Alaska's newest federal judge refuses to admit that Trump lost 2020 election

Aaron C. Peterson, who is in mid-40s, recently won confirmation by the U.S. Senate for a lifetime appointment as a federal judge in Alaska. He may prove to be a good federal judge. Or a political hack who does what he is told.

The jury will be out for a long time on Peterson, chosen by Sen. Dan Sullivan, nominated by Trump and approved on a 58-39 vote.

Alaska news organizations failed to examine Peterson’s evasiveness in answering simple written questions during his confirmation asked by Democratic senators.

Alaska newspapers and broadcasters should avoid repeating that mistake with the next nominee to emerge from Sullivan’s secret judge selection committee.

Here is an email I sent to Sullivan and Sen. Lisa Murkowski, who appears to be entirely cut out of the process of filling judgeships in Alaska. Sullivan and Murkowski have refused to respond to multiple requests for an explanation of what they are doing.

The questions make them uncomfortable and they prefer not to answer. Readers who care about the matter might consider writing to them and perhaps will get a reply.

About Peterson, there were plenty of red flags that were ignored about his willingness to say whatever he was told.

He didn’t have the guts to tell the truth about the 2020 presidential election and the January 6th insurrection. He has followed the same path as the likes of Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel.

He couldn’t say if the 14th Amendment means that every person born in the U.S. is a citizen. Or if the president has the power to ignore laws passed by Congress. Or if the president has the power to withhold money from states where Democrats are in power.

Asked as part of his confirmation process if Trump lost the 2020 election, Peterson refused to say yes or no.

He hid behind the identical weasel words that dozens of wannabe judges and other nominees use in the Trump era: “President Biden was certified as the winner of the 2020 presidential election and served as the 46th president of the United States.”

That was the same response used by Trump’s former attorney Emil Bove the Third, confirmed by the Senate 50-49 for a lifetime seat on the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Murkowski voted against Bove, who is in his mid-40s. Sullivan did not.

Peterson claimed that he drafted his written answers, but that the Trump administration “reviewed” them. Peterson said he copied answers used by other nominees only when they “precisely” captured his beliefs.

It turns out his beliefs are precisely those of other Trump nominees for judgeships.

Peterson’s inability to say that Trump lost and Biden won shows that he is not a guy who speaks truth to power. But that’s what it takes to get a lifetime federal judge job under Trump.

Asked if he denounced the January 6th insurrection, Peterson followed the script created by the regime. He said he couldn’t comment because he might have to rule on the matter. He couldn’t say if it was an insurrection or not.

And he refused to give a yes or no answer about whether Trump is allowed to serve a third term.

“Is President Trump eligible to be elected President for a third term in 2028? Assume that I know what the text of the 22nd Amendment says. I am interested in your application of that text to whether or not President Trump can be elected President in 2028,” Sen. Chris Coons of Delaware asked Peterson.

Peterson couldn’t do it. “The 22nd Amendment states that ‘[n]o person shall be elected to the office of President more than twice,’” said the Alaska nominee.

Peterson claimed he was unable to say he disagrees with the post below from Trump calling some judges “monsters” who hate the country. And he was unable to say if the rhetoric from Trump endangers the lives of judges and their families.

“This question calls for a response to statements by a political figure regarding ongoing litigation and I cannot provide such an answer consistent with my ethical obligations as a judicial nominee,” Peterson puffed.

This is all about ethics. And remaining pure, untouched by politics, he claims.

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