Sullivan blames Murkowski for Josh Kindred debacle; says judge applicants should remain secret
Sen. Dan Sullivan would like Alaskans to forget about the glowing endorsement he gave to Josh Kindred on the Senate floor on February 12, 2020 when he declared that Kindred would make a fantastic federal judge.
“I have known Josh since he was a young assistant district attorney for the State of Alaska when I was attorney general,” Sullivan told the Senate that day.
From Sullivan’s Febrary 12, 2020 speech asking the Senate to confirm Josh Kindred as a federal judge.
Sullivan said he was impressed with Kindred from the start and continued “to be impressed with his fierce commitment to upholding the law, the concept of equal access to justice for all, and his keen awareness of Alaska’s unique legal landscape.”
Kindred prosecuted sexual assault crimes and did “pro bono work to stem this very significant crisis that my state has with these heinous crimes of sexual abuse,” the junior senator said.
“I believe he will serve with honor and integrity on the federal court,” Sullivan said.
Speaking to reporters in Juneau Thursday, Sullivan left no doubt that he blames Sen. Lisa Murkowski for the disastrous decision to put Kindred on the federal bench. He takes no personal responsibility for his role in backing Kindred and acts as if he had no part in it.
He should read the speech he gave that day and listen to the speech he gave before the Senate Judiciary Committee, which is posted below. There is enough blame to go around for the Kindred disaster.
Sullivan did not name Murkowski Thursday, just as he did not name federal Judge Sharon Gleason, when he claimed that she has done enormous damage to Alaska with rulings that he doesn’t like.
“I don’t want to get specific, but we have a couple district judges that rule with the far left radical environmental groups every single time. And that judge, in my view, 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 said, referring to Gleason.
Gleason is the only fulltime federal judge in the Alaska district. Sullivan blocked any replacement for one judicial vacancy throughout the Biden administration. The second vacancy stems from Kindred’s forced resignation.
Sullivan said he has a “red line” that he won’t cross when it comes to supporting new judges.
“Senator Murkowski and I couldn’t agree on noms (nominations) this past fall. I worked hard to try and get compromise, but I have a red line. And my red line is we’re not gonna have another judge like the one that we’re talking about,” Sullivan said, referring to Gleason.
“I’m not gonna, I am 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,” he said.
To get judge applicants that Sullivan approves, he created a hand-picked group that is led by former Gov. Sean. Parnell and operates in secret.
The nine-member group, which has a majority aligned with Sullivan, will not reveal the names of anyone who has applied to be a federal judge.
Jon Katchen, one of the members of Sullivan’s judge-selection committee, was Sullivan’s favored candidate for a federal judge position during the first Trump administration. Katchen was a young employee of Sullivan’s during the Parnell administration.
Katchen was nominated by Trump in 2018 to be a federal judge, but the Senate never held a confirmation vote on him because of opposition from Alaska and he withdrew. Sullivan is still irked that Katchen did not become a judge.
Sullivan referred to Katchen Thursday, but did not name him, when Sullivan said that Kindred was not his choice. After Katchen withdrew, Kindred emerged.
“Judge Kindred was not my pick, OK? Was not my pick. I had another pick who would be great. Great lawyer, great man of moral character, who Senator Murkowski ended up not agreeing to,” Sullivan said, referring to Katchen.
Sullivan claims that people who might apply to his committee to be a judge might be afraid of public disclosure, so he has decided to keep the names secret.
If their names are released to the public and they are not chosen to be a federal judge, they would be embarrassed and might feel bad, he said.
Anyone who wants to be a federal judge who is afraid of having his or her name disclosed does not deserve to be a federal judge. As a test of character this is an easy one.
Another factor here, perhaps the major reason for secrecy, is to prevent the public from knowing who was passed over.
Sullivan attacks the Alaska Bar Association bar poll as being inadequate, but that process is superior in that the names of the applicants are disclosed.
Here is a list of the applicants under the Murkowski process and the bar poll results.
Murkowski said Wednesday her staff has done an initial round of interviews with some of those applicants. She will conduct more interviews herself.
These are lifetime appointments and the best way to avoid repeating the Kindred disaster is to emphasize transparency, not secrecy.
Both senators need to be more open about this. Sullivan says his secret committee has lots of applicants, but the public has no business knowing who they are.
Sullivan thinks that Alaskans should be satisfied with knowing the names of the members of his secret committee, not with the names of the candidates for lifetime jobs.
“My council members are public, but I don’t want to discourage people” by identifying those who want to be judges. “And then they don’t get it and that is viewed as somehow bad for them or their careers. I don’t want that. There’s no backroom deals. This is what Alaska needs,” said Sullivan.
This may be what Sullivan needs. It is not what Alaska needs.
Sullivan claims his secret committee contains the “best professional minds in the state.”
The best professional minds in the state would not put secrecy above transparency. They would realize that applicants who are afraid of having their names disclosed should never have applied.
As I’ve written here before, the refusal to release the names of the judge applicants and their resumes reflects poorly on Sullivan and the nine friends and/or political allies who serve on his secret committee—UAA Chancellor and former Gov. Parnell, former Lt. Gov. Loren Leman, Texas lawyer Stephen Cox, former Sullivan employee Jon Katchen, Matt Findley, Jessica Graham, Jo Kuchle, Christine Pate and Kim Reitmeier.
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