Alaska federal judge nominee dodges 2020 election, Jan. 6 questions in confirmation hearing

An Alaska nominee for federal judge joined other nominees in a joint confirmation hearing before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday and declined to answer some questions about the 2020 election and Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol. 

President Trump nominated Kyle Reardon, a federal magistrate judge and former prosecutor, to fill the last of three federal judge seats for the U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska in August.

Reardon was endorsed by Alaska’s Republican U.S. Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan to fill the vacant seat, after former judge Joshua Kindred resigned in disgrace in 2024.  

If confirmed by the U.S. Senate, Reardon would be one of three federal judges in Alaska serving lifetime appointments. 

Reardon appeared before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee for a nomination hearing along with nominees Daniel Ballou for the Eastern District of Kentucky, Richard Bennett for the Southern District of Texas, Courtney Coker for the Northern District of Texas, Trevor Pemberton for the Eastern District of Oklahoma and Zach West for the Northern District of Oklahoma.

Nominees answered a variety of questions from committee members, including their views on the administration of justice, impartiality, diversity, abortion access and the 2020 election. 

President Donald Trump has continued to falsely deny that President Joe Biden won the 2020 election by claiming election fraud without evidence. Biden won both the popular vote and the majority of Electoral College votes in 2020. 

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Connecticut, posed the questions to the six nominees on the topic. He also asked whether the U.S. Capitol was attacked on Jan. 6, 2021. The event was widely documented and reported — Trump supporters attempted to interfere with Congress’ certification the 2020 election results in a violent attack that caused significant damage, dozens of injuries and at least five deaths. 

When asked who won the 2020 election, Reardon answered that Joe Biden did. 

But when Blumenthal asked the nominees who won the popular vote in 2020, he gave a different answer. 

Nominees from Kentucky and Texas answered before Reardon. Daniel Ballou from Kentucky responded: “I believe it’s inappropriate under the canons of judicial ethics to weigh in on matters of political controversy.” 

Reardon agreed, and said “I have the same answer.” Coker, Pemberton and West said the same.

Blumenthal then asked if the U.S. Capitol was attacked on Jan. 6.

Richard Bennet of Texas responded before Reardon and declined to call it an attack.

“I saw some of the coverage and the violence, the vandalism and the trespass, and I condemn those,” he said. “But characterizing it as an attack, I believe, weighs into a matter of political controversy, and it’s inappropriate for me to comment on that under the canons.”

Reardon agreed with Bennett’s response: “Senator, I concur with Judge Bennett’s characterization,” he said. 

Following the exchange, Blumenthal questioned the judges’ independence. “The failure to answer the question of who won the 2020 election again, I think, indicates that you would be unwilling to stand strong against political influence, particularly from the White House, which has asserted that it wants to dominate the Department of Justice and our entire justice system,” Blumenthal said. 

Blumenthal said he would oppose their nominations for that reason: “Right now, we’re in a very perilous time, and I would have expected more from nominees of the United States District Court.” 

Reardon was not available Friday, according to his clerk’s office, to comment on his reason for declining to answer the questions or on Blumenthal’s assertion it indicated an unwillingness to stand against political influence.

Alaska U.S. Sen. Murkowski strongly condemned the attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 and called for Trump to immediately resign, just weeks before Biden’s inauguration. She also condemned Trump for issuing blanket pardons last year for roughly 1,600 people criminally convicted for their involvement in the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol. 

On Thursday, a spokesperson for Murkowski responded to Reardon’s responses, and whether they were a sign of unwillingness to stand up to political influence as Blumenthal said. 

“President Biden won the popular vote in the 2020 presidential election, and the U.S. Capitol was attacked on January 6, 2021. These are facts, despite the controversy that has come to surround them,” said Joe Plesha, communications director for Murkowski, in an email. 

“During multiple interviews and conversations with Mr. Reardon, Senator Murkowski was impressed by his professionalism, judgment, and independence,” he said. “Based on those interactions and his record of public service in Alaska, she expects Mr. Reardon to demonstrate those qualities as a District Judge for Alaska should he be confirmed.”

Sullivan also condemned the violence on the U.S. capitol. Later he voted to acquit Trump at a subsequent impeachment trial saying, in part, that Trump was already out of office. Sullivan declined to comment on the blanket pardons of those involved in Jan. 6 but said publicly that Trump had promised on the campaign trail to do so. 

On Thursday, a spokesperson for Sullivan declined to comment on Reardon’s responses at the hearing because the senator was traveling. The spokesperson pointed to an August post on social media congratulating Reardon on the nomination. 

Both Alaska senators have endorsed Reardon’s nomination. At the hearing, Murkowski spoke in support of Reardon, praising his career in public service and on the bench in Alaska. “This is an individual that is not only qualified for this position, he is ready to hit the ground running as a U.S. District Court judge,” she told senators. 

In an opening statement, Reardon grew visibly emotional while thanking his family members for their support. He also thanked President Trump and Alaska’s senators for the nomination, saying “it is a professional honor of a lifetime.”

Reardon has served as a federal magistrate judge in Alaska since 2021, a role which oversees a variety of judicial proceedings. His career in the judicial system includes serving as a federal prosecutor as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in Alaska and California, clerking for two federal judges, and serving as a Judge Advocate in the U.S. Army, according to his questionnaire submitted to the committee.  

There is no set schedule for the judiciary committee to vote on confirming the nominees. The judges were asked to answer additional questions from senators in writing before a committee vote, then their nominations go to a vote before the full U.S. Senate, expected in the coming weeks.