White house lawyer nominated as judge stays mum at hearing
WASHINGTON (AP) — A White House lawyer nominated to be a federal appeals court judge declined to answer questions Wednesday from senators about his work in the Trump White House and Education Department.
Steven Menashi, an associate White House counsel, has been nominated by President Donald Trump for the New York-based 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
At a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, Menashi refused to answer questions from Democratic Sens. Dianne Feinstein of California and Dick Durbin of Illinois about his work on immigration issues, including a policy to separate migrant children from their families at the U.S.-Mexico border.
Feinstein, the committee’s top Democrat, called Menashi’s refusal to answer unprecedented. Added Durbin: “I really don’t understand the purpose of this hearing if the nominee before us cannot answer a basic question about his personal values.”
Menashi’s silence also frustrated Republicans, including the committee chairman, South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, who urged the nominee to be more forthcoming.
Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., told Menashi that while he is “a really smart guy,” he needs to answer questions from senators. “This isn’t supposed to be a game,” he told Menashi.
Menashi said he understood the senators’ frustration, but said he could not answer questions about his White House work, citing confidentiality concerns.
Feinstein questioned that, saying other judicial nominees who worked for previous presidents had answered general questions about the nature of their work.
Menashi’s nomination is controversial because of his past writings, including some in which he assailed “leftist multiculturism” and accused gay rights groups of exploiting the 1998 murder of gay student Matthew Shepard.
https://www.apnews.com/b438fe75fd4f437ebcecc7cccf9ddbe5
= new reply since forum marked as read
Oh, that's a good one, AP.
“This isn’t supposed to be a game,”
Man, those are the STRONG words of a seriously frustrated public servant demanding accountability right there ...
Wonder how many winks it was accompanied by?
