How the White House has prepared for attacks on Ketanji Brown Jackson

How the White House has prepared for attacks on Ketanji Brown Jackson

March 21, 2022, The Independent

Nick Xenakis spoke with The Independent regarding Judge Ketanji Brown’s preparation leading up to her confirmation hearings for the U.S. Supreme Court.

Nick, speaking from his experience as a former general counsel for the Senate Judiciary Committee, said that the most important way for nominees to prepare for questioning is to look at the judge’s first hearings before the committee.

“You have an incredibly experienced staff right now on the committee, and you have an incredibly experienced committee itself,” he said. “Almost everyone has been doing this for decades, and the staff has been through this, both on the Democratic and Republican side, several times over, over the past few years.”

Nick explained that this experience allows the committee staff on both sides of the political aisle to not only take a look at a nominee’s first hearing, but also become familiar to the political currents taking place as a judge is nominated. “One thing, obviously, people will be looking at is what has happened in between the first nomination and now,” he said.

Nick also added that Judge Jackson was also endorsed by the International Association of Chiefs of Police. “It’s going to be developments like that,” Nick observed, “that you’re going to look in on and you’re going to want to make sure are publicized.”

He continued, “Make sure the nominee is aware, make sure members are aware, so everybody is prepared that when these issues come up, not only is the nominee prepared to answer, but also, the members of the committee are able to help either defend the nominee or buttress the nominee’s answers.”

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