Senate lawmakers had few questions for a natural resources lawyer whom President Donald Trump has tapped to be a federal judge in Alaska.
If confirmed, Aaron Peterson would be one of only two active judges of the U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska, after another Trump appointee to the bench last year resigned in disgrace.
Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), who testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Peterson’s behalf, said he was the first nominee to be interviewed by the Alaska Federal Judiciary Council, a bipartisan group Sullivan established to improve vetting and make recommendations on federal court vacancies.
Sullivan said he set up the panel amid a scandal over former Judge Joshua Kindred, who left the Alaska District Court after allegations surfaced that he pursued an “inappropriately sexualized relationship” with a clerk. Sullivan called the scandal a “real disgrace to Alaska and the federal judiciary.”
