In fact, the judge Barack Obama nominated for a lifelong position on the Supreme Court is a former Democrat political operative who has worked on multiple campaigns and for national office holders.
In case you missed it, the story below from the Free Beacon details Garland’s record as a partisan operative – and it picks apart the coming White House spin that Garland was merely a volunteer.
Obama’s Supreme Court Pick Has Worked on Multiple Democratic Political Campaigns
By Brent Scher
March 17, 2016
President Barack Obama’s choice for the vacant seat on the Supreme Court was presented as a moderate that could have bipartisan appeal, but Merrick Garland has previously disclosed in official documents that he has offered his services to numerous Democratic presidential candidates.
Buried in a questionnaire Garland submitted to the Senate Judiciary Committee in 1995 is his disclosure of volunteer work for Democratic politicians that stretched from his years as a college student up to Bill Clinton’s presidential campaign in 1992.
“I provided volunteer assistance on a Presidential Debate for President Clinton in October 1992 and for Michael Dukakis in October 1988,” Garland wrote in response to a question on his previous political involvement. “I did some volunteer work for Walter Mondale’s presidential campaign in 1983-84. As a college student, I worked two summers for the campaign of my then-congressman, Abner Mikva, in 1972 and 1974.”
Garland was not a regular volunteer when he offered his services to Democratic presidential campaigns.
Garland’s work for Mondale, Dukakis, and Clinton all came after his graduation from Harvard Law School, once he had begun his professional legal career.
During the 1988 election, Garland was already a partner at a prominent private law firm. By the time he volunteered for Clinton in 1992, he was working as a prosecutor for the U.S. attorney’s office in Washington, D.C. After Clinton won in 1992, Garland got a job in the administration as deputy assistant attorney general in the Justice Department’s criminal division.
…
BACKGROUND
In 1982 Garland Worked For U.S. Congressional Democrats Who Were Challenged Over The Legality Of Extending The Deadline For Ratification Of The Equal Rights Amendment. “The Supreme Court yesterday indicated that it is seriously considering a proposal to overturn immediately a Dec. 23 lower court ruling that appeared to doom ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment. … Callister declared Congress’ extension of the deadline for ERA ratification unconstitutional and freed the states to rescind legislative votes ratifying the amendment. … Government lawyers asked Thursday for immediate nullification without full arguments and without an opinion on the issues. … Merrick Garland, speaking for House Speaker Thomas P. (Tip) O’Neill Jr. (D-Mass.) and Judiciary Committee Chairman Peter W. Rodino Jr. (D-N.J.), issued a statement calling it a ‘good sign.’” (Fred Barbash, “Supreme Court May Act Quickly On ERA Ruling,” The Washington Post, 1/16/82)
In 1984 Garland Was A Lawyer With The Mondale-Ferraro Campaign. “Merrick Garland, a lawyer for the Mondale-Ferraro campaign, said courts had held that the use of the funds was proper because the law allows discretion in the use of the funds to a parent who is acting as custodian.” (Jeff Gerth, “Finances Of Ferraro And Husband Are Interwoven,” The New York Times, 8/16/84)
According To His 1995 Senate Questionnaire, Garland Also Volunteered For Democrat Presidential Candidates Bill Clinton, Michael Dukakis. “I provided volunteer assistance on a Presidential Debate for President Clinton in October 1992 and for Michael Dukakis in October 1988. I did some volunteer work for Walter Mondale’s presidential campaign in 1983-84.” (Merrick Garland, Judicial Questionnaire, U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, 11/30/95)
Garland Worked Two Summers For The Campaign Of Democrat Congressman Abner Mikva. “As a college student, I worked two summers for the campaign of my then-congressman, Abner Mikva, in 1972 and 1974.” (Merrick Garland, Judicial Questionnaire, U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, 11/30/95)
- Mikva Was A Five Term Democratic Congressman Who Served As White House Counsel Under President Clinton. “President Barack Obama on Monday bestowed the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor, to 18 recipients including Meryl Streep, Stevie Wonder and Chicago’s Abner Mikva. Mikva, 88, a former Democratic congressman and federal judge who was White House counsel under Bill Clinton, once tried unsuccessfully to hire Obama as a law clerk and ended up schooling him in Chicago politics.” (Katherine Skyla, “Abner Mikva Given Nation’s Highest Civilian Honor,” Chicago Tribune, 11/24/14)