Trump judicial pick stumbles, pulls out
Matthew Petersen, a nominee to the federal judiciary, withdrew from consideration days after a video clip showed him unable to answer basic questions about legal procedure, the White House confirmed Monday.
Petersen, nominated for a seat on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, is the third Trump judicial pick to withdraw in the past week amid criticism from Democrats and others about their qualifications.
White House spokesman Raj Shah confirmed that Trump had accepted Petersen’s withdrawal but declined to comment further.
The video of Petersen that went viral Thursday captured five minutes of pointed questioning by Sen. John Neely Kennedy, R-La., at Petersen’s confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee the day before.
It was posted on Twitter by Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., who wrote that it showed Kennedy asking Petersen “basic questions of law & he can’t answer a single one.”
Petersen, a graduate of the University of Virginia Law School, has been a member of the Federal Election Commission since 2008 but has no trial experience.
“While I am honored to have been nominated for this position, it has become clear to me over the past few days that my nomination has become a distraction — and that is not fair to you or your Administration,” Petersen wrote to Trump in a letter dated Saturday. “I had hoped my nearly two decades of public service might carry more weight than my two worst minutes on television. However, I am no stranger to political realities, and I do not wish to be a continued distraction from the important work of your administration and the Senate.”
Kennedy said Monday that “I feel bad for [Petersen], but I think he did the right thing, stepping — standing aside.”
He added that he advised the president during a Friday phone call — a call Trump placed — that Petersen was not “quite ready to be a federal judge.”
Kennedy said that Trump was not upset with him during their conversation.
“He said look, Kennedy, do your job, I’m not upset at anybody,” Kennedy said. “He just said do your job, I’ll never criticize you for doing what you think is right.”