Former Justice Department prosecutors who handled Jan. 6 cases are pressuring the Senate to reject President Donald Trump’s judicial nominees if they refuse to characterize the 2021 Capitol riot as an attack on American democracy or acknowledge that former President Joe Biden won the 2020 election.
Twelve former government attorneys, many of whom worked under the Biden administration, signed a letter released Wednesday as the Senate Judiciary Committee convened a nominations hearing, arguing that senators should treat nominees’ answers about Jan. 6 and the 2020 election as a test of their fitness for lifetime appointments.
The effort is part of a broader campaign involving former Justice Department attorneys who have organized against the Trump administration. Several of the prosecutors who signed the letter have signed similar letters critical of the administration coordinated by Justice Connection, a nonprofit group of former DOJ attorneys that assembled after Trump returned to office and has worked to run interference against his agenda.
Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) amplified the prosecutors’ latest campaign at a press conference immediately before Wednesday’s Judiciary Committee hearing, appearing alongside three former prosecutors who signed the letter.
“For judges nominated for lifetime seats in the judiciary branch, this refusal to contradict the President’s lies is particularly dangerous,” the letter reads, arguing that nominees’ reluctance to answer raises questions about whether they could remain independent from Trump once confirmed.
Blumenthal singled out Anna St. John, a sitting federal district judge whom Trump nominated to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit.
During her earlier confirmation process, Blumenthal said St. John declined to adopt Blumenthal’s characterization of Jan. 6, saying she told the committee it would be inappropriate for a judicial nominee to weigh in on “political controversies.”
Blumenthal said Wednesday he planned to press her again.
“It isn’t a political controversy to speak the truth,” Blumenthal said. “If she cannot answer truthfully now, she deserves to be voted down.”
Michael Romano, who spent nearly two decades at the Justice Department and four years prosecuting Jan. 6 cases before resigning, appeared alongside former DOJ prosecutors Sean Murphy and Brennan Blue.
“If nominees can’t answer basic questions about Jan. 6, they should be voted down,” Romano said.
Blue went further, accusing Trump of attempting to “subvert future elections” and citing administration policies involving voter rolls, birthright citizenship, and federal election monitoring as evidence for his claim.
Whitehouse also used the event to target acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, whose nomination to lead the DOJ is expected to receive a Senate vote this week. Whitehouse accused Blanche of carrying out Trump’s agenda through the administration’s handling of Jan. 6 defendants and prosecutors who previously worked on Trump-related cases.
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Blanche could face a tight confirmation vote after Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) pledged to oppose his confirmation on Tuesday.
Wednesday’s Judiciary Committee hearing also included D. Adam Candeub, Trump’s nominee to lead the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division, along with district court and U.S. Sentencing Commission nominees.