Sullivan's judge nominee can't imagine why being member of Federalist Society might help his campaign to become a judge
Aaron C. Peterson, 44, who may become Alaska’s next federal judge, signed up with the right-wing Federalist Society this year, a late addition to his resume that suggests he realized it was time to join the right club.
Peterson said he can’t imagine why joining the society, which counts a majority of the Supreme Court as members, would be of any help to him, however.
“I was not told and had no reason to believe that it would increase my chances of being nominated for a judicial position,” Peterson said in a written response to a question from Sen. Chris Coons of Delaware.
Next he will tell us is that when he revealed to Sen. Dan Sullivan’s judge selection committee that the late Antonin Scalia, a society member, was his favorite judge, he didn’t know that Sullivan, a society member, also counts Scalia as a favorite.
Peterson is the first nominee to emerge from the committee set up by Sullivan to select judicial candidates who agree with Sullivan’s point of view and do not cross the senator’s “red line.”
Sullivan said March 20 that his red line is to have someone who is not at all like Judge Sharon Gleason, the chief U.S. district judge in Alaska who has served with distinction in state and federal courts for a quarter-century.
Sullivan claimed that Gleason “has done more damage to our state than almost anyone imaginable. And I’m trying to make sure we don’t put more people like that on the bench.”
Sullivan falsely claimed that Gleason sides “with the far left radical environmental groups every single time.” Sullivan’s claim about Gleason has been rejected by other attorneys.
“I’m gonna make sure Alaska does not get a federal judge who sides with the far-left radical enviros on every case. That’s just, that’s my red line,” Sullivan said.
Nine days after announcing his red line, Sullivan interviewed Peterson. We are supposed to believe that he did not discuss his red line with Peterson and that Peterson had no clue about the red line.
Peterson says he does not recall discussing environmental law with Sullivan and made no representations about how he might rule if he becomes a judge. Perhaps the lawyers on Sullivan’s committee obtained the assurances that Sullivan sought when they interviewed Peterson in secret on March 19, the day before Sullivan revealed his red line.
But Peterson did not reveal everything he said to Sullivan, offering this incomplete sentence to Coons as justification: “To the extent that this question calls for a response to statements by a political figure, and I cannot provide such an answer consistent with my ethical obligations as a judicial nominee.”
Sen. Lisa Murkowski did not meet Peterson and did not interview him until his nomination was in the bag. She has said nothing in public about the process and her exclusion by Sullivan and Trump. She agreed to support Peterson.
Moving up in society
Asked why he never joined the Federalist Society until 2025, Peterson said he had schedule conflicts so he couldn’t attend many Alaska events. That doesn’t really explain why he never joined the society, however.
He didn’t give the exact date about when he became a full-fledged member of the society but that probably followed his decision to try to become a judge. It is absurd to claim the two are not connected.
“When I attended an event in early 2025, I learned that the Alaska Chapter had new leadership and planned to become more active, with more regular programming. At that point, I decided to formally join so I could be informed of and participate more consistently in those events,” Peterson said of the Federalist Society.
The leader of the Alaska chapter in early 2025 was former U.S. Attorney James Klugman, who had a romantic relationship with an underling and was deemed “not truthful” by the U.S. attorney.
Stephen Cox, now the Alaska attorney general, was listed as the vice president of the society chapter in Alaska in early 2025. Cox was also a member of Sullivan’s hand-picked judge selection committee that interviewed Peterson in March and recommended him to Sullivan.
The Federalist Society Alaska chapter now lists Niki Tshibaka as president.
The Federalist Society makes no secret of its goals. One of them, highlighted on its website and in publications for many years, is “reordering priorities within the legal system to place a premium on individual liberty, traditional values, and the rule of law.”
Peterson said he was “not familiar with the quoted material” and that there are tens of thousands of society members.
President Trump has attacked Leonard Leo, a longtime society leader, as a “sleazebag” and a guy “who probably hates America.”
Questioned if he agrees with Trump that Leo is a sleazebag who hates America, Peterson said, “This question calls for a response to statements by a political figure and I cannot provide such an answer consistent with my ethical obligations as a judicial nominee.”
Peterson said that if confirmed as a judge he will “consult the canons of judicial ethics” to decide if he will remain in the Federalist Society.”
Asked by Sen. Amy Klobuchar if he agrees with Trump’s claim that he can do anything he wants because he is the president, Peterson said the code of conduct for judges forbids him from answering.
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