Collins backs ‘not qualified’ Trump judicial nominee who stumped for Kavanaugh

In a confirmation decided along party lines, Senator Susan Collins voted Thursday to appoint 37-year-old Justin Walker, a University of Louisville law professor who received a “not qualified” rating from the American Bar Association, to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky.

A member of the conservative Federalist Society who previously worked as a clerk for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, Walker was determined by the association to lack the experience necessary to serve on a federal court.

“While we respect the distinguished clerkships for which Mr. Walker was selected following graduation from law school and his current academic experience, his legal practice to date does not compensate for the short time the nominee has practiced law and/or his lack of substantial courtroom experience,” wrote the association in a letter sent July 30 to U.S. Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), who lead the Senate Judiciary Committee.

In 2018, Walker was a staunch supporter of fellow Federalist Society member Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court nomination. When interviewed on Fox News during the confirmation hearings, Walker said he believed Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, one of the women who accused Kavanaugh of sexual assault, “was mistaken.”

Walker is now the fifth federal court appointment under the Trump administration to be confirmed despite a “not qualified” rating from the American Bar Association. The first was Leonard Steven Grasz, an opponent of abortion rights and laws protecting LGBTQ citizens, who Collins also supported.

(Top photo: Win McNamee / Getty)