Anti-Trump Tweets Appear To Doom Dem Kansas Gov’s Appeals Court Nominee

Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly, left, introduces Jeffry Jack, right, as her nominee for a seat on the state Court of Appeals, during a news conference, Friday, March 15, 2019, at the Statehouse in Topeka, Kan. . Jack is a L... Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly, left, introduces Jeffry Jack, right, as her nominee for a seat on the state Court of Appeals, during a news conference, Friday, March 15, 2019, at the Statehouse in Topeka, Kan. . Jack is a Labette County district court judge who previously served in the Kansas House. (AP Photo/John Hanna) MORE LESS
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TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly’s nomination of a trial judge to Kansas’ second-highest court appeared doomed Monday after two key Republican legislators decried past social media posts criticizing President Donald Trump and expressing support for gun control and abortion rights.

Senate President Susan Wagle predicted that Judge Jeffry Jack’s appointment to the Kansas Court of Appeals will not be confirmed by her GOP-dominated chamber. She and Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Rick Wilborn said the nomination should be withdrawn.

Even Kelly’s chief spokeswoman, Ashley All, called the tweets and retweets on a Jack’s feed “troubling” and said the governor’s office did not know about them, despite its vetting of potential appeals court nominees. Jack has been a district judge in Labette County in southeast Kansas since 2005 and served before that as a Republican in the Kansas House.

The judge’s Twitter page, showing his picture, includes political retweets with vulgar language, a September 2017 tweet referring to Trump as “Fruit Loops” and another saying, “I am so embarrassed that he is our President.” His postings show support for National Football League players who have kneeled in protest during the national anthem. The last tweet on Jack’s feed appeared to be from October 2017.

“He’s obviously politically biased, and he just isn’t the type of personality that you want on the bench, determining judicial questions,” said Wagle, a Wichita Republican.

All said the governor’s office was looking into Jack’s tweets and retweets. Jack was in court Monday and did not immediately return a telephone message to his office seeking comment.

Kelly picked Jack to replace longtime appeals court Judge Patrick McAnany, who retired the day the Democratic governor took office in January. She said Jack’s legislative experience was an important factor in choosing him over two other finalists and said he would bring qualities including “impartiality” to the bench.

The quickly-emerging problems with Jack’s nomination were particularly embarrassing for Kelly because she took the extra step — not required by law — of appointing a panel of lawyers and non-lawyers to screen applications, interview candidates in public and name three finalists.

Questions about Jack’s social media posts also came a day after the Kansas Department of Transportation said an employee who had used an official Twitter account to criticize Trump no longer worked at the agency.

All said she could not say why the governor’s office did not know about Jack’s feed on Twitter, which still could be viewed online Monday evening.

Some of Jack’s tweets criticized Republican legislators, including Wagle. One July 2017 tweet speculated that Wagle, who is now considering a U.S. Senate bid, might seek higher office and suggested she might be “failing upward.” He described another GOP senator with a vulgar acronym in a June 2017 tweet.

“It just flies in the face of everything you want a sitting judge to be,” said Wilborn, a McPherson Republican. “I would have thought that she (Kelly) would have vetted this candidate a little more closely and the prudent thing for her to do to continue to be credible is to withdraw that nomination.”

Sen. Vic Miller, of Topeka, the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, said he found Jack’s social media posts “deeply troubling.”

Asked whether Jack should withdraw as the nominee, Miller said: “If these are genuine, and he asked me for advice, I would advise him to do that.”

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Notable Replies

  1. So, they’ll obviously be considering Kris Kobach instead.

    He’s obviously politically biased, and he just isn’t the type of personality that you want on the bench, determining judicial questions

  2. Avatar for jep07 jep07 says:

    So, Jeff Jacks speaks The Truth and Kansas Republicans get apoplectic.

    These people are defending their delusions, and protecting their hate for the future they can’t stop, at least nationally, but they control Kansas with a fist of clay and iron, it is so very strange to watch.

    They will postpone the future here in Kansas as long as possible, but it isn’t hard to read between these lines to recognize that a big bunch of deluded Republicans rule this state from the past.

    They consider the rest of us freaks. Even as they fade into history and the real world continues to grow. It is getting downright strange lately. They rule by reaction.

    Like something out of Twilight Zone.

    I still blame FOX.

  3. “He’s obviously politically biased in the wrong direction, and he just isn’t the type of personality that you want on the bench, determining judicial questions,” said Wagle, a Wichita Republican.

  4. “He’s obviously politically biased, and he just isn’t the type of personality that you want on the bench, determining judicial questions,” said Wagle, a Wichita Republican.

    He’s obviously biased against a corrupted, fascist, authoritarian, russian tool in the WH - surely we can’t have him determining judicial questions. So says a member of the cult that rammed through the confirmation of Bart ‘what goes around comes around’ Kavanaugh for the Supreme Court.

  5. Avatar for jcs jcs says:

    We get Thomas, Gorsuch, Alito & Kavanaugh and this guy is troubling. He would have been wise not to have posted. Federalists are OK? But this isn’t? God help us.

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