The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Yale grad, court nominee wins bipartisan praise
On paper, William Nardini is a judicial nominee straight out of central casting.
A Yale law grad, class of ’94, clerkships with Judges Jose Cabranes and Guido Calabrisi as well as Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, stints in Italy as a Fulbright scholar and at the U.S. embassy, and a long history of service in the U.S. attorney’s office Connecticut — his latest assignment is chief of the criminal division. What’s not to like?
On Wednesday, President Donald Trump nominated hm to fill a vacancy on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, based in New York City. He was nominated alongside Barbara Jongbloed, a state court judge in New London picked by Trump for a U.S. District Court seat in Connecticut.
Sens. Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy, who get to vote on both confirmations, issued a joint news release praising the two for “long, deep connections with the Connecticut legal community.” They added, “We look forward to their confirmation processes.”
Then there was this from Jenny Beth Martin, honorary chairwoman of the Tea Party Patriots and one of the stalwarts of the conservative movement that bedeviled President Barack Obama and helped pave the way for President Donald Trump.
“We are delighted about the decision to appoint Bill Nardini to the open seat on the Second Circuit Court of Appeals,” she said in a statement. “We commend President Donald Trump for continuing to make great appointments to our higher courts and carry out his campaign pledge to restore the courts to their proper role; to adjudicate our laws, not write them.”
Is there anything about Nardini that is more than meets the eye?
Whether there is or not, Blumenthal and Murphy may have little to say about it. Until recently, senators had virtual veto power on homestate nominees. But Senate Republicans, anxious to confirm as many nominees as possible, ended the “blue slip” tradition for appeals court nominees.
Blumenthal will get to question Nardini at his confirmation hearing. A Yale law grad himself as well as a former U.S. attorney in Connecticut, Blumenthal may have a lot of notes to compare with Nardini. But it will be interesting to see if an ideologue background is indeed nestling in the cracks of an otherwise solid legal resume.
Granted an extension
The only mystery surrounding Rep. Janana Hayes’ first filing of the mandated congressional financial disclosure statement is what took her so long? It was due in midJune, but Hayes requested — and received — a 90day extension.
So on Aug. 14, I inquired as to whether it had been filed. Not quite, I was told, but soon. The clock kept on ticking. Then a few days later, I was told a lawyer had noticed an error and the statement was pulled off the website of the Office of the Clerk of the U.S. House. Then vacation (mine) intervened and I didn’t get back to it until Wednesday. It took a bit but boom, there it was ... dated Aug. 1.
It has a few interesting ingredients, such as student debt that may run as high as $300,000. But the rest of it was garden variety stuff, a mortgage on her Englewood Avenue property in Waterbury, income from renting it to a relative, annual income of $112,212 for her final year with Waterbury public schools, and so on.
Spokesman Sam Dorn attributed the delay to Hayes wanting “to do it at home where she could consult with an attorney and have more time to look it over.”
Not that complicated, yes, but Hayes is a freshman on Capitol Hill — and a veteran teacher to boot. She obviously knows a slapdash homework assignment when she sees one. So perhaps she deserves the benefit of the doubt for wanting an extension.