Iowa House committee chair seeks investigation of judge

By DAVID PITT
Associated Press

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The chairman of the Iowa House Judiciary Committee says he wants to launch an investigation of a state court judge who last year was accused of trying to rig a judicial nomination to get a favored candidate appointed to the bench. If Republican Rep. Steven Holt’s investigation is approved, as expected, it apparently would be the first of its type in decades. Holt said Tuesday that he’ll ask the full House to pass a resolution granting his committee powers to investigate last year’s unusual judicial appointment process. Judge Kurt Stoebe, then chairman of a northern Iowa judicial nominating commission, was accused of making inappropriate and unprofessional comments about certain nominees and falsely stating that a nominee had withdrawn from consideration.