In May of 2016, then-presidential candidate Donald Trump released his list of potential Supreme Court nominees. When he was elected president, his transition team then released another, updated list, which included eventual SCOTUS justice Brett Kavanaugh.
We're not seeing the same level of transparency among the 2020 Democrats. While many of the contestants reportedly have a list of who they'd nominate to the high court, they don't plan on publicly releasing the names. Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) admitted as much on Monday.
Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar says she'd nominate a full slate of qualified judges on Day 1 of her presidency. "There's going to be a lot of retirements, a lot of openings, and we have to move immediately," Klobuchar said.
But the Democratic candidate for president isn't naming names. And she told The NPR Politics Podcast and New Hampshire Public Radio that she doesn't intend to unless she wins.
"I think that you interview people, you make decisions — you can't do that as a candidate," Klobuchar said. "You can't vet them like you should. As a candidate you don't have the FBI." (NPR)
Judicial Crisis Network Policy Director Carrie Severino noted on Twitter that the classified nature of the nominees is unacceptable.
Now here's the real question: What is @AmyKlobuchar hiding? We know that the fringe socialists that are now front-and-center in the Democratic party are pretty extreme. Just imagine what their judges are like. #ReleaseTheList /end
— Carrie Severino (@JCNSeverino) July 15, 2019
JCN unveiled a recent ad demanding all 2020 Democratic candidates release their secret lists.
"Democratic candidates and liberal groups are campaigning to pack the courts with liberal judges, while keeping their list secret," Severino said at the time. "Democratic frontrunner Joe Biden and all Democratic presidential candidates should stop hiding and release their list of potential Supreme Court nominees so the American people can judge for themselves.”Severino and Federalist editor Mollie Hemingway are co-authors of the new Amazon bestseller, Justice on Trial: The Kavanaugh Confirmation and the Future of the Supreme Court. In an exclusive interview with Townhall, they explain how the Kavnaugh confirmation took partisanship to a whole new, nasty level.
