(FiveNation.com)- During a press conference last Thursday, Kentucky’s Democrat Governor Andy Beshear called on President Biden to reverse any decision to nominate Chad Meredith to the US District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky.
While Meredith has not been formally nominated to the bench, it was recently reported that the White House had planned to nominate him on June 24 but the announcement was delayed since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade on the same day.
At this point, the White House has still not officially named Meredith as a judicial nominee, but Beshear wants a firm answer from the administration that he is out of the running.
Governor Beshear and Kentucky Democrat Congressman John Yarmuth have both criticized a possible Meredith nomination.
Rep. Yarmuth recently claimed that the White House agreed to nominate Meredith as part of a deal with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell to get more Biden nominees through the evenly divided Senate.
During his Thursday press conference, Beshear criticized Meredith’s record, saying he was “the deputy general counsel who worked on pardons that allowed rapists and murderers to walk free.”
Meredith had worked as deputy general counsel under former Republican Governor Matt Bevin when Beshear was Attorney General.
Beshear accused Meredith of assisting Bevin “with the worse misuse or abuse of gubernatorial power” that he’s seen in his lifetime. He blasted both Bevin and Meredith for pardoning someone involved in the gang rape of a minor.
Beshear told reporters that the White House had said Meredith’s nomination was on hold but added that he has not received a “definitive reason” why Meredith was being considered for a nomination.
He said he hopes the Biden administration backs off on nominating Meredith and vowed to continue telling the White House that Meredith “is not an acceptable nomination” and he and the rest of the state will oppose it.
