'Perpetuating a lie': Blumenthal slams Trump judicial nominee for dodging 2020 election questions

Democratic senators on Wednesday grilled a judge nominated by President Donald Trump for repeatedly refusing to admit that the President lost the 2020 election and that the U.S. Capitol was attacked on January 6, 2021. U.S. District Judge Daniel Traynor, whom Trump nominated to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, was pressed by Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal on the issue, and their exchange turned heated when Traynor chose to stick to what Blumenthal described as a script prepared by the White House.

The North Dakota federal judge appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee to help determine whether he was qualified for the job. The tense exchange unfolded as Blumenthal repeatedly asked Traynor who won the 2020 U.S. presidential election. He declined to give a direct answer, saying, "Senator, this issue has become a question of political controversy." Blumenthal then interjected, saying, "It's 'political controversy' only because the President refuses to accept the results of the 2020 election." 

While reports show former President Joe Biden won with a margin of over seven million votes, Traynor, like previous Trump nominees, invoked Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson's answer during her 2022 confirmation hearings to dodge the question. "As Justice Jackson stated in response to questions in the record, it is not appropriate to engage in discussion regarding that," the North Dakota judge said. "So, you're going to use the same script that other nominees have used before this panel to avoid the question?" Blumenthal shot back. After Traynor repeatedly kept dodging the question, Blumenthal lashed out, explaining that he asked the question because "the President seeks to perpetuate a lie. You are, in effect, protecting that lie if you fail to take an independent position on a simple matter of fact."

Blumenthal then turned his focus to the Jan. 6, 2021, riots during which thousands of Trump supporters attacked law enforcement in an attempt to disrupt the confirmation of the election results. Traynor, once again, declined to provide a straight answer. "Senator, the actions on January 6 were deeply troubling to watch. But I'm not going to characterize it beyond that," he said. Blumenthal then went on to criticize the federal judge for his lack of candour despite having the security of a permanent appointment. "You're here to demonstrate your independence. Instead, you are, in effect, protecting and perpetuating a lie that the Capitol was not attacked. That's what the President seems to believe. That's the loyalty he demands of you," Blumenthal scathed.

The Democratic senator then slammed Traynor for putting his loyalty above fidelity to the Constitution and the truth. "I don't know how you can continue as a district court judge, let alone serve on the Court of Appeals," Blumenthal said. California Sen. Adam Schiff also pressed Traynor on the same topic, but their exchange also ended in a similar fashion. Schiff scathed that Traynor was a hypocrite, pointing to his 2024 decision to join other Trump-appointed judges in boycotting the hiring of Columbia University law clerks only because of how the university responded to pro-Palestine demonstrators.