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Posted: 2017-12-15T07:47:05Z | Updated: 2017-12-15T18:29:54Z

One of President Donald Trump s nominees to a lifetime seat on a U.S. district court struggled to answer basic questions about law during his Senate confirmation hearing on Thursday.

Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) asked a panel of Trumps judicial nominees to indicate if they had never tried a case to verdict in a courtroom.

MUST WATCH: Republican @SenJohnKennedy asks one of @realDonaldTrumps US District Judge nominees basic questions of law & he cant answer a single one. Hoo-boy. pic.twitter.com/fphQx2o1rc

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MUST WATCH: Republican @SenJohnKennedy asks one of @realDonaldTrump s US District Judge nominees basic questions of law & he cant answer a single one. Hoo-boy. pic.twitter.com/fphQx2o1rc

Sheldon Whitehouse (@SenWhitehouse) December 15, 2017

Matthew Spencer Petersen, a nominee for the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, raised his hand. Kennedy proceeded to press him on legal matters.

KENNEDY: Have you ever tried a jury trial?

PETERSEN: I have not.

KENNEDY: Civil?

PETERSEN: No.

KENNEDY: Criminal?

PETERSEN: No.

KENNEDY: Bench?

PETERSEN: No.

KENNEDY: State or federal court?

PETERSEN: I have not.

It only got worse from there.

Petersen, who is currently the chairman of the U.S. Federal Election Commission, struggled to answer more questions as it became clear he did not have the experience typically expected of a federal judge.

KENNEDY: As a trial judge, youre obviously going to have witnesses. Can you tell me what the Daubert standard is?

PETERSEN: Sen. Kennedy, I dont have that readily at my disposal but I would be happy to take a closer look at that. That is not something Ive had to contend with.

KENNEDY: Do you know what a motion in limine is?

PETERSEN: Yes.. I havent, Im, again, my background is not in litigation as when I was replying to Chairman (Chuck) Grassley (R-Iowa), I havent had to um, again, do a deep dive.

Petersen then began ticking off his experience in a decision-making role at the FEC. Kennedy interrupted him:

KENNEDY: Yes, Ive read your resume. Just for the record, do you know what a motion in limine is?

PETERSEN: I would probably not be able to give you a good definition right here at the table.

KENNEDY: Do you know what the Younger abstention doctrine is?

PETERSEN: Um, Ive heard of it... but I, again.

KENNEDY: How about the Pullman abstention doctrine ?

PETERSEN: I... I heard...

KENNEDY: Yall see that a lot in federal court.

A number of Trumps judicial nominees have come under fire for not being fit to serve on the federal bench. Four of his court picks have been rated not qualified by the American Bar Association an embarrassingly high number to receive the abysmal rating in a presidents first year. One of them, district court court nominee Brett Talley, withdrew his nomination this week.

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Part of the reason this keeps happening is that Trump is nominating judges at a breakneck pace without taking the time to thoroughly vet their backgrounds. Thats leading to problems later in their confirmation process, as senators discover more details about their background. Many of Trumps court picks are being funneled to him by the The Federalist Society, a right-wing legal organization focused on filling up courts with conservative judges.

Kennedy is one of few Republicans critical of Trumps judicial nominees, saying at one point the president is getting some very, very bad advice .

See Kennedys full exchange with Petersen above.

Jennifer Bendery contributed reporting.

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