Judicial nominee struggles to answer basic legal questions in humiliating hearing

A US judicial nominee has been forced to withdraw after a cringe-worthy hearing in which he struggled to answer basic legal questions went viral.

A TRUMP administration judicial nominee who was widely mocked after a video of a cringe-worthy grilling went viral last week has withdrawn his name from consideration.

Matthew Petersen, who was nominated to be a judge on the US District Court of the District of Columbia, struggled to answer basic questions about legal definitions and courtroom procedure posed by Republican Senator John Kennedy, in what The New York Times dubbed “an excruciating five minutes of ignorance”.

Mr Petersen, a commissioner on the Federal Election Commission, told President Donald Trump in a letter on Monday that his nomination had become a “distraction”, The Hill reported.

“I had hoped my nearly two decades of public service might carry more weight than my two worst minutes on television,” he wrote. “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.”

During the hearing, Senator Kennedy asked whether he had ever “tried a case to verdict”, with Mr Petersen admitting he had not. “Can you tell me what the Daubert standard is?” Senator Kennedy asked.

“I don’t have that readily at my disposal but I would be happy to take a close look at that,” Mr Petersen replied.

“Do you know what a motion in limine is?” Senator Kennedy asked.

“I haven’t had to, again, do a deep dive ... I would probably not be able to give you a good definition right here at the table,” Mr Petersen replied.

Senator Kennedy pressed on. “Do you know what the Younger abstention doctrine is?” he asked. “I’ve heard of it, but I, again ... ” Mr Petersen responded. “How about the Pullman abstention doctrine?” Senator Kennedy asked, leading Mr Petersen to simply shake his head.

Speaking to Louisiana TV station WWL-TV on Monday, Senator Kennedy described Mr Petersen as a “decent guy”.

“The President called me the day before yesterday,” he said. “He doesn’t interview these guys, he has his staff do it. And he said, ‘Kennedy, I think you’re right.’

“Mr Petersen’s a really smart guy, he’s a decent guy, but just because you’ve seen My Cousin Vinnie doesn’t qualify you to be a federal judge. He has no litigation experience, and my job on the judiciary committee is to catch them. I would strongly suggest he not give up his day job.

“The President and I get along fine. He has told me, ‘Kennedy, when some of my guys send someone over who’s not qualified, you do your job.’ And I said, ‘Thank you, Mr President’, and I intend to do that.”

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