Baldwin ‘deeply troubled’ by judicial nominee’s remarks
Giampietro didn’t share comments about gay marriage, diversity with nominating commission
Democratic U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin said she is “deeply troubled” by comments made by Gordon Giampietro, the attorney nominated by President Donald Trump for federal judge in Wisconsin’s Eastern District.
“It’s not about me, it’s about people who would be in his courtroom,” Baldwin said in an interview Saturday night with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
“He’s asking for a lifetime judicial appointment,” Baldwin said. “He’s never been a judge before, and people need to believe that he’d be independent, fair and impartial.”
Giampietro’s nomination has sparked debate because of comments he made in a blog and two radio interviews about diversity, same-sex relationships and birth control. He also criticized Justice Anthony Kennedy’s U.S. Supreme Court decision on same-sex marriage.
Giampietro did not disclose those comments in an application he made to the Wisconsin federal nominating commission, saying he didn’t see them as relevant or necessary. A commission member has said that if the comments were known, Giampietro’s nomination would not have advanced.
Giampietro released the application to the Journal Sentinel and a review showed disclosure of the material was not specifically asked for, but there were two questions where Giampietro could have chosen to include the information.
Some of the material was later disclosed on a more expansive questionnaire for the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee and reported by BuzzFeed.
In August, Baldwin and Republican U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson wrote to the White House, said the state commission’s screening process was completed and they were “pleased to recommend” four candidates, including Giampietro.
Johnson continues to support Giampietro, a former federal prosecutor who is now assistant general counsel at Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Co.
“Mr. Giampietro is a highly qualified and talented individual who respects the rule of law. Presumably, that’s why Senator Baldwin was ‘pleased to recommend’ him to the White House for this position just a few months ago,” said Ben Voelkel, a Johnson spokesman.
Asked what changed between sending the letter and now, Baldwin said: “Some additional information has come to light. He had an opportunity to share that information with the judicial nominating commission from Wisconsin. He chose not to. I believe he should have shared that information and I trust that the nomination committee might have viewed his application differently had they had the additional information in front of them.”
Last week, Giampietro emailed Baldwin, defended his record, rejected the suggestion he “intentionally concealed material information“and asked to meet with her.
Baldwin said she met with Giampietro a few weeks ago, “before this new information came to light.”
“In addition, I’ve been getting a lot of calls from constituents who know his record, expressing concern, and I think those constituents deserve to have their opinions listened to,” she said. “And as soon as I complete my review, I’ll be happy to meet with Mr. Giampietro again.”
Supporters of Giampietro have said they believe criticisms he has received have to do with his Catholic faith. Wisconsin’s five bishops and the New Yorkbased Catholic League have written to Baldwin asking her not to block Giampietro’s confirmation.
Groups calling on Trump to withdraw Giampietro’s nomination include Lambda Legal, the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, the Human Rights Campaign, Alliance for Justice, the National Center for Lesbian Rights and People For the American Way.
Giampietro’s critics have focused on a March 25, 2014, comment that he wrote on the Catholic Thing website that “calls for diversity” are “code for relaxed standards (moral and intellectual).”
He was responding to a blog post by Amherst College political scientist Hadley Arkes on U.S. Supreme Court arguments over the Affordable Care Act’s contraception mandate and government regulation of businesses.
In a July 24, 2015, interview on “The Lydia LoCoco Show,” a radio show about faith, marriage and family, Giampietro was sharply critical of the Supreme Court decision affirming the right to same-sex marriage.
He declared the ruling “worse” than the court’s Roe vs. Wade decision legalizing abortion “because of the damage it does to civil society.”
In the same interview, he took aim at birth control pills, describing them as “an assault on nature.”
Asked about the comments, Baldwin said, “Again, what I think is the most important factor here is whether the people of this state would be fairly treated in his courtroom. I’m unlikely to be in his courtroom. But the things he has said might bring doubt to others who would be.”
Baldwin may have the ability to block the confirmation. Traditionally, home state senators have been able to stop lower-court nominees by refusing to return a blue slip to the Judiciary Committee.
But under Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa), the Judiciary Committee advanced the nomination of Michael Brennan for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit in Chicago, even though Baldwin didn’t hand in a blue slip.