Trump District Judge Nominee Embarrassingly Fails to Answer Basic Hearing Questions

[DonViejo]

by Ken Meyer | 7:53 am, December 15th, 2017

Link to tweet

One of President Trump‘s district court nominees is getting a lot of attention over a moment where he failed to answer basic questions about the legal system during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing.

Matthew Spencer Petersen, a commissioner on the Federal Election Commission, appeared before the committee on Wednesday to take questions regarding his nomination to the District Court for Washington DC. Petersen faced questions from Senator John Kennedy (R-LA) about legal procedure, which led to Petersen admitting he has never tried a jury trial, taken deposition by himself, or argued a motion in state or federal court.

From there, the questions became steadily more basic as Kennedy asked Petersen about various rules and legal definitions. Petersen was unable to answer several of Kennedy’s questions, and he ended up defending himself by saying that his pathway to a district court nomination was unusual since he doesn’t have a background in litigation.

The segment was posted online by Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), who tweeted “hoo-boy” in mockery of how the exchange went.

In recent weeks, several of Trump’s judicial nominees have come under fire for their controversial histories and/or lack of legal qualifications. Two of Trump’s district court nominees were withdrawn for these reasons after committee chairman Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) announced his opposition against them.

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https://www.mediaite.com/online/trump-district-judge-nominee-embarrassingly-fails-to-answer-basic-hearing-questions/

[underpants]

1. Hoo-boy. The best people. Only THE BEST.

Trump saaaalute

[rock]

2. "You know nothing"

"John Snow"

[Cicada]

3. Too painful to watch

Sometimes I have nightmares about a college final exam I had forgotten, sweating to answer. This was like that nightmare. Senator Kennedy, seemingly to the right of Attila the Hun, is clearly a smart, skilled legal assassin. Apparently he is pissed off by the low quality of some of Trump’s judicial nominees.

[spanone]

4. unfuckingbelievable

[ATL Ebony]

5. Hoo boy is right. Seems this guy didn't even try to prepare for this hearing.

I doubt he'd make it through to confirmation but he'd look halfway intelligent though not anymore competent. I mean meh, even as a paralegal I could have answered most of Kennedy's questions. Whew, so glad he was out on display like that and HOPE he doesn't get a nod.

[OliverQ]

6. This is scary. A man deemed unqualified by the Bar Association was already

confirmed. Trump and the GOP are literally appointing young, unqualified, super right-wing fascists to lifetime federal positions. This is going to be the lasting damage of this catastrophe.

[ProfessorGAC]

7. Geez, Nominate Me

At least i was a principal witness in a federal civil case. I have more experience than this idiot.

[treestar]

8. All that proves is that he has

Never done litigation. It would make sense to favor lawyers with litigation experience to be trial judges and that seemed to be the point the senator wanted to make. It is an age of specialization and this person will know a lot about federal election law.

[47of74]

9. Geezus what an idiot

I could probably do better than this Orange Fart Cloud nominee and I'm only 1.5 years in to law school.

[DFW]

10. "Sir, can you tell me what 'I object' means in a court of law?"

"Well, Senator, it's certainly an important part of courtroom procedure, and I fully support its use where appropriate, but as to its specific meaning as you are applying it here, I will have to study that in detail and get back to you."