Trump Judicial Pick Withdraws After Dismal Performance at Confirmation Hearing

By Jeralyn, Section Trump Administration
Posted on Mon Dec 18, 2017 at 03:45:51 PM EST
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Matthew Peterson, who worked at the FEC for 10 years (5 of them with Trump aide Doug McGann), has withdrawn his name from consideration as a federal judge for the District of Colombia after a dismal performance at his confirmation hearing yesterday.

He's never tried a case, doesn't know what the Daubert standard or a motion in limine is, has never argued a motion, conducted a deposition by himself, and he last read the federal rules of evidence in law school.

He is the third Trump judicial pick to fall this this month [More...]

Early last week, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) told the White House to “reconsider” the nominations of two nominees, Jeff Mateer and Brett Talley, both of whom were reported to have endorsed positions or groups that embrace discrimination. A day later, both nominations were pulled.

...Mateer, according to reports, had said in 2015 that transgender children are part of “Satan’s plan,” while Talley was reported to have posted a defense of “the first KKK” in an online comment in 2011.

Neither disclosed those comments during the vetting process. Talley also did not tell the committee that he is married to the chief of staff for White House counsel Donald McGahn.

As for Peterson and McGahn:

A study of the commission’s voting patterns found that Petersen voted in virtual lockstep on key issues for years with other Republicans on the commission, including McGahn.

Cronyism over competence, once again, is the signature of the Trump Adminstration.

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Trump Judicial Pick Withdraws After Dismal Performance at Confirmation Hearing | 2 comments (2 topical)

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Painful (5.00 / 1) (#1)
by Peter G on Mon Dec 18, 2017 at 07:21:40 PM EST

yet almost funny.

It was a bit like those awful (5.00 / 3) (#2)
by Anne on Mon Dec 18, 2017 at 08:13:54 PM EST

American Idol auditions, where people who appear to think they can sing - but can't - get up and make sad and complete fools of themselves. I would wonder, how is it that no one ever told them they couldn't sing? They'd be there with their moms and dads, or their kids, and I'd think, how could you let this happen?

I felt a little like that for Peterson. Except he wasn't sitting there mangling a pop song, he was demonstrating that he didn't know enough about the law to complete some law-related crossword clues.

This guy. How on earth, in what universe, could he possibly have believed he was qualified? Or, better yet, how did Trump, or the people who vetted Peterson, ever think Peterson was qualified?

Was it a case of "Republican? Check. Loyal? Check. Okay, he's our guy. He'll wear a robe, his clerks will keep him out of trouble, and in a couple years, we can put him on the Court of Appeals - get those rulings we're looking for."

What struck me is that Peterson is emblematic of so many of Trump's nominees up and down the administration. Sadly, I think it's going to take a long time to undo the damage these people have done, and are still doing.