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Trump judicial nominee withdraws after humiliating hearing
By Lydia Wheeler - 12/18/17 01:56 PM EST 577
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A Trump administration judicial nominee who struggled to answer basic questions about courtroom procedure in a viral video clip withdrew his name from consideration on Monday.
The hearing could have been simply a bad memory for Mr. Petersen. But Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, Democrat of Rhode Island and a member of the Judiciary Committee, shared a video of the exchange on Thursday evening on Twitter.
MUST WATCH: Republican @SenJohnKennedy asks one of @realDonaldTrump’s US District Judge nominees basic questions of law & he can’t answer a single one. Hoo-boy. pic.twitter.com/fphQx2o1rc
— Sheldon Whitehouse (@SenWhitehouse) Dec. 15, 2017
Matthew Petersen, who had been tapped to be a judge on the U.S. District Court of the District of Columbia, wrote in a letter to President Trump that his nomination had become a “distraction.”
“I had hoped my nearly two decades of public service might carry more weight than my two worst minutes on television,” he wrote. “However, I am no stranger to political realities, and I do not wish to be a continued distraction from the important work of your Administration and the Senate.”
He is the third of Trump’s judicial nominees to be withdrawn in the last week.
Petersen was raked over the coals in a cringeworthy exchange last week with Republican Sen. John Kennedy (La.), a member of the Judiciary Committee.
After Petersen admitted he’s never tried a case, Kennedy told him as a trial judge he’s going to have to deal with witnesses. He then asked him what the "Daubert standard" is.
“I don’t have that readily at my disposal,” Petersen said of a rule regarding expert testimony in federal court.
“Do you know what a 'motion in limine' is?” Kennedy asked a moment later, referring to a request to exclude certain evidence in a trial.
Petersen said he hadn’t had time to “do a deep dive,” before later saying that he would “probably not be able to give you a good definition right here at the table.”
Kennedy in an interview Monday morning on WWL-TV in Louisiana said that Peterson is a “decent guy,” but too inexperienced for the bench.
“Just because you’ve seen ‘My Cousin Vinny’ doesn’t qualify you to be a federal judge,” he said, referring to the 1992 movie starring Joe Pesci.
Peterson, who is a member of the Federal Election Commission, had been rated "qualified" by the American Bar Association, but “he has no litigation experience and my job on the Judiciary Committee is to catch them,” Kennedy said.
Kennedy also said that Trump called him over the weekend and expressed support for his work on the Judiciary Committee.
“The president called me the day before yesterday. He doesn’t interview these guys. He has his staff do it and he said, 'Kennedy, I think you’re right. Number two, Mr. Petersen’s a really smart guy.' ”
“The president and I get along fine, and he has told me, ‘Kennedy, when some of my guys send somebody over who’s not qualified, you do your job,” he said.
how you a lawyer but don't know hit about being a federal judge?!?
