U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez issued a scathing response today to reports that he had held up the nomination of Magistrate Patty Shwartz to the Third Circuit Court of Appeals.  

“It is incredibly disappointing and unfortunate that my real concerns over the suitability of Judge Shwartz to serve a lifetime appointment as circuit court judge have been spun as some petty political vendetta by some of her supporters," Menendez said.  "I did not believe it was appropriate, nor was it my intention, to debate Judge Shwartz’s qualifications to serve on the circuit court through the press, but the suppositions and suggestions assigned to my position are false and my concerns are substantive."

The statement lays out his reasons for using a form of senatorial courtesy to block Shwartz, who is from New Jersey.  Reports published earlier today hinted that Menendez may have held up the nomination because of support for Schwartz from Gov. Chris Christie.  Shwartz is a former Deputy U.S. Attorney and worked for Christie. 

“It is completely untrue that I would hold a judicial nominee based on an association with the New Jersey U.S. Attorney’s Office. In fact, I have supported several nominees  from the New Jersey U.S. Attorney’s Office during that period including Michael Chagares, currently a federal judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, who was a Bush Administration nominee and who worked in the New Jersey U.S. Attorney’s Office until 2004; Renee Marie Bumb who worked in the New Jersey U.S. Attorney’s office until 2006; and Noel Hillman, who worked in the U.S. Attorney’s Office until 2001.· 

Menendez said his objection to Shwartz boils down to her competency as a judge.

“I have supported all of the President’s judicial nominees to-date.  As a matter of fact, I supported the candidate the White House initially supported for this position, although I do not know why she was not ultimately nominated," he said.  “I interviewed Judge Shwartz for an opening on the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey. At that time, she indicated that the White House was considering her for a nomination to the Third Circuit. I proceeded to ask her substantive legal questions and was not fully satisfied with her responses. 

“In my opinion, Judge Shwartz did not adequately demonstrate the breadth of knowledge of constitutional law and pivotal Supreme Court decisions such as Citizens’ United that we should expect from a United States Circuit Court judge," he said.  “In the interview with Judge Shwartz, in my opinion, she misapplied the application of strict scrutiny versus rational basis review to the questions at hand.  She did not express substantive knowledge as to the scope of the rights of corporations under the Constitution or jurisprudence on the constitutional limits of Executive Branch powers.”