--- title: Trump Judicial Nominee Stumbles on Law Questions in Viral Video description: In a viral video, Trump appointee Matthew S. Petersen is seen stumbling on basic questions about the law during a nomination hearing. canonical: https://time.com/5065914/matthew-peterson-john-kennedy-judiciary/ author: Nash Jenkins article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-12-15T14:05:16.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-12T08:42:21.272Z article:section: Politics og:title: A Trump Judicial Nominee Couldn't Answer Basic Questions About The Law og:description: "I would probably not be able to give you a good definition right here" og:url: https://time.com/5065914/matthew-peterson-john-kennedy-judiciary/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte71430d83b9895bf/6988f537656a3fc9d2bd2dbc/gettyimages-887044948.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4814 og:image:height: 2708 og:image:alt: Senate Judiciary Committee Holds Hearing On Firearms Accessory Regulation And Enforcing Background Checks og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: A Trump Judicial Nominee Couldn't Answer Basic Questions About The Law twitter:description: "I would probably not be able to give you a good definition right here" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte71430d83b9895bf/6988f537656a3fc9d2bd2dbc/gettyimages-887044948.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # A Trump Judicial Nominee Couldn't Answer Basic Questions About The Law > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=c5537180-7bef-4fe1-a594-52cf79a43c51&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: A Trump Judicial Nominee Couldn't Answer Basic Questions About The Law [Watch (HLS stream): A Trump Judicial Nominee Couldn't Answer Basic Questions About The Law](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/Z5SSuNt6.m3u8) (3:40)  _Published 2017-12-15. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, a Democrat from Rhode Island, posted a video to Twitter that’s now going viral_ by [Nash Jenkins](https://time.com/author/p-nash-jenkins/) ## Nash Jenkins Dec 15, 2017 2:05 PM UTC Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, a Democrat from Rhode Island, posted a video to Twitter that’s now going viral by [Nash Jenkins](https://time.com/author/p-nash-jenkins/) ## Nash Jenkins Dec 15, 2017 2:05 PM UTC It has not been a pretty week for President Trump’s judicial nominees. On Wednesday, two were [removed from consideration](https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-congress-judge/two-trump-judicial-nominations-rebuffed-by-senate-idUSKBN1E72YU) before the Senate due to past scandalous remarks. (One of them, Jeff Mateer of Texas, once said that transgender children were part of “Satan’s plans;” another, Alabama’s Brett Talley, was discovered to have blogged in support of the Ku Klux Klan.) And late Thursday night, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, a Democrat from Rhode Island, posted a video to Twitter that’s now going viral. It’s footage of the Senate Judiciary Committee’s hearing earlier this week, in which one lawmaker — a Republican, no less — grills a nominee over basic points of legal doctrine, only for the nominee to confess blusteringly that he doesn’t know the answers. > [](https://twitter.com/SenWhitehouse/status/941484131757838337) “You can just raise your hand on this one, to save a little time,” Sen. John Kennedy, a Louisiana Republican, says in the video. “Have any of you not tried a case to verdict in a courtroom?” One of the five nominees before the committee, the lawyer Matthew S. Petersen, raised his hand. “Have you ever tried a jury trial?” Kennedy asked. “No.” Kennedy then asked him if he’d ever tried civil, criminal, or bench trials, or trials in either state or federal court; Petersen confirmed that he had not. Kennedy then moved on to ask him for definitions of certain legal tenets, with no more success. “Do you know what a motion in limine is?” Kennedy asked. Petersen’s answer was meandering and somewhat evasive. “I appreciate this line of questioning . . . but I believe that the path I have taken to be in a decision-making role on, I guess, somewhere between 1,500 to 2,000 enforcement matters, overseeing I don’t know how many cases in federal court…” “Yessir, I’ve read your resume,” Kennedy responded. “Just for the record, do you know what a motion in limine is?” “I would probably not be able to give you a good definition right here at the table,” Petersen answered. The video posted by Whitehouse (“Hoo-boy,” the senator commented in his tweet) has proven to be catnip for Democrats, who have lambasted Trump’s judicial nominees and tried to keep them off the bench. It has been an uphill battle. As the _Huffington Post_ [noted](https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/trump-judicial-nominations%5Fus%5F5a32ddd9e4b0ff955ad14bad) Thursday, Trump has so far successfully appointed 12 judges to the nation’s circuit courts — more than any other President in his first year in office since the courts were established 126 years ago. These judges are largely conservative, as is Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch, whose appointment to the Supreme Court in April is considered one of Trump’s biggest accomplishments to date. The votes in the Senate to confirm these judges have fallen along party lines — Democrats have coalesced to largely vote “no” every time — but as Whitehouse’s video shows, not every Republican can be swayed. Kennedy is a freshman senator from Louisiana who is regarded among the congressional press corps as a reliable source for a colorful quote (he described the Las Vegas shooter as a “[perverted idiot](http://time.com/4966877/las-vegas-shooting-gun-control-republicans/)” and said he’d have to be “[drunk](http://time.com/5040290/republican-tax-bill-senate-budget-committee/)” to vote for tax hikes), and while his voting record is conservative, his questioning earlier this week is one more piece of evidence that GOP lawmakers on Capitol Hill aren’t going to line up behind Trump on every issue. ## Transcript You can just raise your hand on this one if you will to save a little time. Have any of you not tried a case to verdict in a court room? Mr. Peters. Have you ever tried a jury trial? I have not. Civil? No. Criminal? No. Bench? No. State or federal court? I have not. Okay, have you ever taken a deposition? I was involved in taking depositions when I was associate at [ UNKNOWN ] when I first came out of law school That was How many depositions? I would, I'd be struggling to remember. Less than 10? Yes. Less than five. Probably somewhere in that range. Have you ever taken a deposition by yourself? I'd believe no. Have you ever argued a motion in state court? I have not. Have you ever argued a motion in federal court? No [ BLANK_AUDIO ] When was the last time your read the federal Rules of civil procedure. The federal rules of civil procedure, in my current position I obviously don't need to stay as invested in those on a day to day basis. But I do try to keep up to speed. We do have. At the Federal Election Commission, roughly 70 attorneys who work under our guidance, including a large litigation division. And as the commissioner, we oversee that litigation. We advise them on overall legal strategy, provide recommendations and edits to briefs and so forth, and meet with them about How we're going to handle. If I could as you this. I'm sorry to interupt you, but we're only given five minutes for five of you so. Sure. When's the last time you read the federal rules of evidence. The federal rules of evidence all the way through would, well comprehensively woul dhave been in law school. Obviously I have been involved in when I was an associate That was something that we had to stay closely abreast of, and there have been some issues dealing with, evidentiary issues, that will cause me to examine those periodically in our oversight role of the litigation division at the Federal Election Commission. Okay. Well, as a trial judge you're obviously going to have witnesses. Can you tell me what the Daubert standard is? Senator Kennedy, I don't have that readily at my disposal. But I would be happy to take a A closer look at that, that is not something that I've had to [ UNKNOWN ] Do you know what a motion in [ UNKNOWN ] is? Yes again my background is in litigation as to when i was replying to chairman [ UNKNOWN ]. I havent had to. Again, do a deep dive. And I understand and I appreciate this line of questioning. 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