A group of 12 former federal prosecutors who worked on January 6 cases has written to all senators demanding a halt to confirming election deniers to lifetime federal bench seats.
The letter, released at a Capitol Hill press event on Wednesday, targets what the prosecutors describe as a deeply troubling pattern in Trump’s second-term judicial confirmation process.
Not a single one of Trump’s second-term court picks would state in their Senate hearing that Joe Biden legitimately won the 2020 election.
The nominees have also routinely dodged questions about January 6, when a mob of Trump supporters stormed the US Capitol in an attempt to stop the certification of Biden as president.
The prosecutors argued the ask was straightforward: do not grant lifetime appointments to individuals who refuse to acknowledge a thoroughly investigated and documented electoral outcome.
“We would no more hire a school teacher who refuses to believe in fractions or a mechanic who won’t admit that gas goes in a gas tank than you should confirm someone to a lifetime seat on the bench who cannot admit that Donald Trump lost,” said one of the letter’s signatories.
The letter warned that nominees’ “refusal to contradict the President’s lies raises significant questions about whether, once confirmed, a nominee could act independently and free from political interference from the president that nominated them.”
Former federal prosecutor Brendan Ballou said denial about January 6 reflects a broader threat to American democracy, stating simply: “Think about how dangerous it is.”
Senators Richard Blumenthal and Sheldon Whitehouse amplified the campaign at a press conference held immediately before Wednesday’s Judiciary Committee hearing, appearing alongside three of the former prosecutors who signed the letter.
The effort is connected to a wider campaign by former Justice Department attorneys who have organised against the Trump administration through Justice Connection, a nonprofit group of former DOJ attorneys formed after Trump returned to office.
Former prosecutor Michael Romano argued that views on January 6 should not be treated as a political matter but rather as a basic threshold for judicial fitness.
The White House defended its nominees, with spokeswoman Lauren Bis stating: “Wherever there are judicial vacancies, President Trump will select highly qualified nominees with great respect for our Constitution and rule of law to be confirmed expeditiously.”
The White House also said every nominee put forward by the president had undergone a rigorous internal vetting process and met the standard for qualification to serve on the federal bench.
The growing tension between former law enforcement officials and the administration’s judicial strategy signals an increasingly public battle over the ideological direction of the federal courts for decades to come.