Why Pence spiked a Trump judge

[DonViejo]

The rare split between the president and his loyal sidekick offers a window into the vice president’s independent political ambitions.

By ELIANA JOHNSON 07/12/2019 05:03 AM EDT

In January 2018, Judge Michael Kanne received an unexpected call from the White House. Kanne, an Indiana native who sits on the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, was then 79 years old.

Under leadership of Don McGahn, the White House counsel’s office was focused almost singularly on filling the federal bench with conservative judges, and in Kanne, Trump’s lawyers had spotted an opportunity to nudge out an old-timer and lock in a conservative who could serve on the federal bench for decades to come. Rob Luther, a McGahn deputy responsible for nominations, had phoned Kanne to suggest he retire. Luther told the judge the White House had a successor in mind: Tom Fisher, Indiana’s solicitor general and a former clerk for Kanne.

“I had not intended to take senior status because that wasn’t my plan, but if I had a former clerk who had the chance to do it, then I would,” Kanne said in an interview. “On the consideration that he would be named, I sent in my senior status indication to the president.”

Taking the status, a form of semi-retirement for judges, would allow Kanne to continue working while creating a vacancy on the bench for Trump to fill. It seemed like the perfect plan — until Vice President Mike Pence’s aides got wind of it and scuttled Fisher’s nomination, according to five people familiar with the events.

As solicitor general of Indiana, Fisher had defended Gov. Mike Pence’s policies in court, and aides to the now-vice president feared his nomination would dredge up events and information politically damaging to Pence.

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https://www.politico.com/story/2019/07/12/mike-pence-kanne-judge-trump-1411915