Trump judge caught in pardon scandal after vacation with convicted fraudster

A Trump-appointed federal judge has been drawn into a pardon scandal after photos surfaced of her on the balcony of George Cottrell, a British fraudster seeking a presidential pardon.

U.S. District Judge Susan Brnovich, appointed to the bench by Trump in 2018, is the widow of former Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich. She sits on the Phoenix court that oversaw Cottrell’s 2017 wire fraud conviction, the Arizona Republic reported.

That same court is likely to be consulted as part of Cottrell’s pardon process, the Republic reported.

Cottrell, a British socialite convicted of running a dark-web money-laundering scheme, is now seeking clemency from President Donald Trump, according to the Republic.

“This was one of my late husband’s favorite places on Earth, and it’s where his father’s family is from. Just being there made us each feel closer to him,” Susan Brnovich told the Republic.

“Naturally, it has been emotionally devastating to see our trip mischaracterized by British tabloids and used by those who seek to score political points here at home or abroad,” Susan Brnovich added.

She also disputed that Cottrell financed the trip.

“We paid our own way and had separate accommodations,” she said.

“Lastly, I have nothing whatsoever to do with any effort of Mr. Cottrell’s to seek clemency, and we did not discuss it,” Susan Brnovich said.

The Sunday Times reported that Cottrell had paid Mark Brnovich at least $5,000 for unspecified “legal advice” before the former attorney general’s death in January.

Trump had nominated Mark Brnovich as ambassador to Serbia in 2025, but withdrew the nomination in October with no explanation, the Times reported.

Cottrell pushed back against the Times’ reporting in a statement.

“Judge Brnovich is a personal friend, as was her late husband. She was visiting on a family vacation and did not stay with me,” he said. “I consider the tactics employed by The Sunday Times, in photographing her on a private family holiday, and then contriving to link her social visit to my application for a pardon, a matter over which she, as a sitting judge, has no say,” Cottrell added.

Mark Brnovich had initially refused to help overturn the 2020 election, MS NOW reported, but later reversed course and embraced MAGA in a bid for Trump’s endorsement. He lost his Senate primary anyway.

He subsequently made repeated trips to Montenegro, where he built a close friendship with Cottrell and with Reform Party leader Nigel Farage, who secretly received funding from Cottrell, the Times reported.

“So, he has a conviction,” Farage said of Cottrell on a podcast, the Times reported. “Maybe that conviction will be pardoned one day.”

A Reuters investigation found that 96 percent of Trump’s more than 1,700 second-term clemency grants bypassed longstanding Justice Department guidelines — compared with less than 1 percent under President Joe Biden.

Susan Brnovich ruled against the Trump administration in April, dismissing a Justice Department lawsuit seeking Arizona’s voter rolls, Votebeat reported. The Justice Department has since appealed that ruling.