Comment President Biden had planned to nominate a conservative abortion-rights opponent to a lifelong federal judgeship in Kentucky, according to newly released emails, drawing criticism at the White House from some of his fellow Democrats. After facing Democratic opposition in Kentucky, the White House has not nominated former state attorney general Chad Meredith as a candidate. A round of federal judge nominations released last week did not include Meredith. It was unclear Wednesday whether the White House would ever move forward with nominating him. But the episode underscored Democrats’ impassioned responses to the Supreme Court’s downfall Roe v. Wade. At times, Democrats have directed some of their anger at the White House. On June 23, White House official Kate Marshall emailed Coulter Minix, director of Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear’s Washington office. “To be appointed tomorrow,” the message read, followed by the qualifications and experience of Meredith, whom the Biden administration planned to nominate to judge in the Eastern District of Kentucky the next day. The email, released Wednesday, was titled “close hold,” meaning information not supposed to be widely distributed. Minix said he would “share the information and appreciate the heads up.” The Supreme Court reversed Roe v. Wade the next day, rocking the country and sparking demands for Democratic elected leaders to do what they can to protect abortion access. A follow-up email a few days later included what appeared to be an attempt to limit potential fallout.. “Sorry we didn’t include that in the original email,” wrote Marshall, a former lieutenant governor in Nevada who joined the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs in August. “But I wanted to clarify that the email I sent was pre-judgmental and privileged information. Please let me know if you have any questions. Thanks. Kate.” The governor’s office initially told news outlets that the exchange between Marshall and Minix was conditional and could not be released. It was finally obtained Wednesday by the Washington Post and other news organizations following a public records request. The office of Beshear, a Democrat, declined to comment Wednesday, referring reporters to statements he made at a news conference. The revelations have sparked criticism of a president who has vowed to do everything he can to protect abortion rights — and urged outraged voters to express their anger by voting for his fellow Democrats in the midterms. They have also raised tensions between the White House and Democratic elected officials in Kentucky, including Reps. John Yarmouth and Beshear, who have both confirmed and criticized the administration’s intention to nominate Meredith. “If the president makes this nomination, it’s indefensible,” Beshear said at a news conference last Thursday. He pointed to Meredith’s role in a series of controversial pardons at the end of Republican Matt Bevin’s tenure, including a man convicted of raping a child. Beshear called Meredith “a person who aided and abetted the most egregious abuse of power by a governor in my lifetime.” Yarmuth issued a recent statement accusing Biden and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) of reaching an earlier deal on Meredith. “Given that there is currently no judicial seat open on the Eastern District Court, it is clear that this is part of a larger deal on judicial nominations between the President and Mitch McConnell,” Yarmuth said in a statement. “I strongly oppose this deal and Meredith’s candidacy for the position. The last thing we need is another extremist on the bench.” Scott Sloofman, a spokesman for McConnell, denied that such an agreement existed. “The discussions about Judge Caldwell’s seat were only about who should fill Judge Caldwell’s seat,” Schluffman said in a statement, referring to the vacancy that was eventually revealed publicly. Both the White House and the Kentucky governor’s office declined to explain the conversations and decisions involving Meredith. The new details add to complaints the White House received after the Supreme Court struck down a constitutional right to abortion established in Roe. Many abortion rights advocates said Biden responded to the decision with insufficient force, raising concerns about his handling of other issues and widening fissures in a political party facing tough headwinds ahead of the November election. The White House tried to avoid questions about what, if any, desire Biden had for Meredith to serve in the federal seat. When asked about it Wednesday on Air Force One, White House press secretary Karin Jean-Pierre deflected. “So we don’t – we – seek not to comment on any – any vacancy, whether it’s executive or judicial, especially those that haven’t – haven’t – the nomination hasn’t been made yet,” he told reporters. “So I have nothing to say about that. It’s something we just don’t comment on.” He also would not say whether the administration has a rule against appointing judges who oppose abortion. Critics have taken to the White House for not having a better plan to protect reproductive rights — or other privacy rights that could be affected by the decision — especially since a draft opinion was leaked weeks before the official decision. A coalition of abortion rights groups expressed outrage at the administration, pointing out that the appointment of conservative judges to the federal bench had paved the way for Roe v. Wade to be overturned. “We are in a national abortion crisis,” said a statement from groups including NARAL Pro-Choice America and the Planned Parenthood Federation of America. “We’re in this moment because anti-abortion judges have been deliberately appointed at every level to take away our fundamental right to an abortion — and given his track record, we know Chad Meredith would be no exception.” The White House said it has convened meetings with stakeholders to form a plan to combat the effects of the Supreme Court ruling. Among other measures, the administration said it would seek to protect access to mifepristone, an abortion pill that can be prescribed through a telehealth visit and delivered by mail, bypassing some state restrictions. Biden said he would also protect women who travel across state lines seeking an abortion. During five decades in political office, Biden has been openly conflicted on abortion, at times struggling to balance views shaped by his Catholic faith with those of his political party. For most of his career, he supported abortion rights but opposed federal funding for the procedure, including in some cases pregnancies resulting from rape and incest. And he was one of the few Democrats in 1982 to vote for a constitutional amendment that would have allowed states to override Roe v. Wade and limit abortions. Post Roe v. Wade overturned, said the rights taken away by the court threatened other freedoms and tried to turn the fight over reproductive rights into a midterm campaign issue. “This fall, we need to elect more senators and representatives who will re-codify a woman’s right to choose in federal law, elect more state leaders to protect that right at the local level,” she said from the White House two hours later. the Supreme Court Decision. “We need to restore his protections Roe as the law of the land. We need to elect officials to do this. This fall, Roe it’s on the ballot. Personal liberties are on the ballot. The right to privacy, freedom, equality, it’s all on the ballot.”
