Bondi Eliminates ABA’s Role in Vetting Trump Judicial Picks (2)

The Justice Department won’t allow the American Bar Association to vet President Donald Trump’s picks for judicial appointments.

The Office of Legal Policy, which prepares judicial nominees, will no longer “direct nominees to provide waivers allowing the ABA access to non-public information, including bar records,” according to a Thursday letter from Attorney General Pam Bondi to the association’s president, William Bay.

Nominees also won’t respond to ABA questionnaires or sit for interviews with its standing committee on the judiciary.

“Unfortunately, the ABA no longer functions as a fair arbiter of nominees’ qualifications, and its ratings invariably and demonstrably favor nominees ...