Federalist Society hears Cotton speak

U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton addressed the Federalist Society’s 2017 National Lawyers Convention on Thursday at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, D.C.

The Republican from Dardanelle was one of the featured speakers, along with U. S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions and White House counsel Donald McGahn.

That evening at a sold-out black-tie-optional dinner, the conventiongoers heard from newly appointed Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch.

The Federalist Society, founded in 1982, describes itself as “a group of conservatives and libertarians dedicated to reforming the current legal order.”

During his appearance, Cotton said he has longstanding ties to the group.

“I was a member of the Federalist Society when I was a student and then when I was in private practice, so I’ve long supported what you do to spread the gospel of freedom and constitutional government to the benighted backwater lands of our nation’s law schools,” he said.

It wasn’t the first time that he’d addressed a Federalist Society group, he noted.

“I met my wife at a Federalist Society lunch,” he said. “I gave a speech, and a pretty girl gave me her phone number afterwards.”

The former Anna Peckham, Cotton’s spouse since 2014, also attended Thursday’s event.