Last year, Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) exposed the utter incompetence of a number of Joe Biden's judicial nominees. One of them was Charnelle Bjelkengren, whom Biden nominated for a seat on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington. She thoroughly embarrassed herself when she couldn’t even answer Kennedy’s basic questions about the Constitution.
This week, Bjelkengren was one of three Biden nominees to request that their nominations be withdrawn.
"I asked the President not to re-nominate me due to the uncertainty of my confirmation and in order to advance the important work of the federal judiciary," Bjelkengren said in a statement. "My hope is for the swift confirmation of the next nominee."
Opposition to Bjelkengren grew after Kennedy exposed her as completely unqualified for the lifetime appointment.
“Judge, tell me what Article V of the Constitution does,” Kennedy asked her.
“Article V is not coming to mind at the moment,” Bjelkengren replied after a long pause.
“Okay, how about Article II?”
After a short pause, she admitted, “Neither is Article II.”
“Okay,” Kennedy said. Then, after scratching his head a moment, clearly perplexed at Bjelkengren’s cluelessness, he asked, “Do you know what purposivism is?”
“In my 12 years as an assistant attorney general, in my nine years as a judge, I was not faced with that precise question,” she said. “We are the highest trial court in Washington state, so I’m frequently faced with issues that I’m not familiar with, and I thoroughly review the law. I research, and apply the law to the facts presented to me.”
“Well, you’re going to be faced with it as a — if you’re confirmed,” Kennedy replied. “I can assure you of that.”
You can watch the painfully awkward exchange here:
CRINGE: Biden federal district court nominee Judge Charnelle Bjelkengren, from Washington state's Spokane County Superior Court, cannot answer simple questions about the Articles of the US Constitution during Senate Judiciary Committee hearing pic.twitter.com/pbYY2YI2iZ
— Ari Hoffman (@thehoffather) January 26, 2023
Kennedy responded to the news of her withdrawal on Thursday.
"Pres. Biden sent us a nominee who didn’t know the basics of the U.S. Constitution," he posted on X/Twitter. "Judge Bjelkengren is right to bow out, but Pres. Biden just keeps trying to put unqualified people on the bench—for life. People who don't know the law have no business running our courtrooms."
How is it possible that Bjelkengren was nominated in the first place? Well, the answer is obvious. She wasn't nominated because of her qualifications; she was nominated because of the diversity checkboxes she met. Had she been confirmed, she would have been the first black woman to serve on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Washington and the first black woman to serve on a United States District Court in the state of Washington.
Bjelkengren is not the only diverse but grossly unqualified nominee Biden has nominated.
Another nominee Kennedy stumped last year is Kato Crews, the first black U.S. magistrate judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado, who was nominated for a district court seat in the state. As a result of Kennedy's questioning, Crews was forced to admit he was unfamiliar with the criminal law concept known as the Brady motion — a legal request made by a defendant in a criminal case to require prosecutors to disclose potentially favorable evidence — a reference to the Supreme Court decision in Brady v. Maryland, which established this legal principle.
“Tell me how you analyze a Brady motion,” Kennedy asked.
“How I analyze a Brady motion... Senator, in my four and a half years on the bench, I don’t believe I’ve had the occasion to address a Brady motion in my career,” Crews replied.
“Do you know what a Brady motion is?” Kennedy asked.
“Senator, in my time on the bench, I’ve not had occasion to address that, and so it’s not coming to mind at the moment what a Brady motion is,” Crews said.
When Kennedy inquired if Crews was familiar with the Brady v. Maryland case, Crews said he’d heard of it but when pressed for details, gave an incorrect response.
Related: Biden Continues to Prioritize Diversity Over Competence
Unfortunately, the Democrat-controlled Senate voted to confirm Crews on Wednesday. Only one Republican, Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), voted to confirm him. No Democrats opposed Crews's confirmation, but independent Sen. Kirsten Sinema (I-Ariz.) voted with Republicans against him.
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