Judicial Pick Who Ruled for Trump in Defamation Case Confirmed

The Senate confirmed to a federal trial court a state judge who didn’t recuse from a matter decided in Donald Trump’s favor, even though he’d previously been in contact with a senator and his office about the possibility of a judicial appointment.

Ed Artau cleared the Republican-led chamber on Monday in a party line vote, 50-43, for a seat on the Miami-based US District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

Artau told the Senate Judiciary Committee at his confirmation hearing in June that he followed all ethics requirements in deciding to participate in a three-judge Florida appellate panel that on Feb. 12 unanimously allowed Trump’s suit against the Pulitzer Prize board to proceed.

Trump alleges the board defamed him by refusing to rescind reporting prizes for coverage on Russian influence in the 2016 presidential election. The case came to the court during the Biden administration.

The timing of Artau’s interactions with Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) and his office as well as the White House about a possible judicial appointment and Trump’s announcement in May that he’d been tapped for the district seat raised potential concerns about his impartiality in the defamation case, and the process by which he was chosen.

Artau told the Senate that no one involved in the process of selecting him had discussed with him any “currently pending or specific case, legal issue or question in a manner that could reasonably be interpreted as seeking any express or implied assurances” about his position.