‘Not qualified’ rating and accusation from American Bar Association
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A federal appeals court nominee, Lawrence VanDyke, broke down in tears during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing Wednesday, reacting to a scathing letter against his confirmation by the American Bar Association after it conducted 60 interviews and concluded that he was “not qualified” for the judicial branch.
FILE – In this Sept. 23, 2014, file photo, former Montana Solicitor General Lawrence VanDyke, center, talks with law students Jason Collins, left, and Tyler Dugger before a Montana Supreme Court candidate forum at the University of Montana in Missoula, Mont. A former adviser to then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions was nominated for a second time Friday, Sept. 20, 2019, to a position on the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, an effort that has been criticized by California’s two senators. Trump also wants to place VanDyke, a deputy assistant attorney general at the Department of Justice, on the appeals court. VanDyke is a deputy assistant attorney general in the environmental and natural resources division. He is a former Nevada solicitor general who also waged an expensive campaign for a seat on the Montana Supreme Court in 2014 and lost. (AP Photo/Lido Vizzutti, File)
The rare outburst comes as the ABA is under continued attack from conservatives who question its methodology and argue that the group that has rated potential nominees for decades is biased against conservatives. It also comes as the President and Senate Republicans have pushed through a record number of judicial nominees as Democrats have questioned their qualifications.
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