Unfit judge could erode justice for all Coloradans

Daniel Domenico refuses to say who won the 2020 election.

The federal judge is not the only Trump partisan to debase himself on this question. It’s become a litmus test for advancement in Washington, and administration operatives from cabinet members to regional managers have chosen humiliation over rejection by indulging the biggest lie in the country’s modern political history.

But frequency doesn’t make the lie any less damaging or its promoters any less contemptible, especially in the case of Domenico, who as a judge is supposed to be a model of honesty and fairness. The Coloradan’s prevarication on the 2020 election makes him unfit to sit on the bench, but in the horror show of American government under President Donald Trump it was a prerequisite for his pending promotion. Currently the chief U.S. district court judge in Denver, Domenico is nominated to sit on the powerful 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, also based in Denver.

Federal appellate courts like the 10th Circuit are the last venues for legal questions related to such important matters as constitutional rights, immigration and voting before they reach the U.S. Supreme Court. Domenico’s presence on the court could dramatically alter how it comes down on those questions. The 10th Circuit has recently blocked the Trump administration’s attempt to remove detainees from the country under the Alien Enemies Act, affirmed Colorado’s ability to ensure LGBTQ+ children aren’t excluded by universal preschool program providers, upheld a Colorado ban on the harmful practice of “conversion therapy,” and sided against election denier Tina Peters as she challenged her felony sentence to state prison. Its jurisdiction covers not just Colorado but also Oklahoma, Kansas, New Mexico, Wyoming and Utah.

Domenico, for whom impartiality and truthfulness are conditional, would undermine the court’s integrity and erode access to justice for all Coloradans. And it’s not only his alliance with election denialism that’s alarming. His record reveals numerous reasons he is the wrong person for the job.

That record goes back to Domenico’s student days. In 1992, when he attended the University of Colorado Boulder, he published a commentary in the Daily Camera that defended the school’s then-football coach, Bill McCartney. Weeks earlier, McCartney had caused an uproar when, wearing a CU sweater and standing at a CU lectern, he said during an anti-LGBTQ+ speech that homosexuality is “an abomination against almighty God.”

Domenico argued for McCartney’s free-speech right to discuss “controversial issues” and suggested the backlash to McCartney was due to his views not being “politically correct.” Domenico was notably silent on what he thought of McCartney’s hatred.

Colorado Politics’ Michael Karlik has produced invaluable reporting about Domenico’s performance at the district court, to which Domenico was first appointed, by Trump, in 2019. At one point in 2022, Domenico had the fourth-highest backlog of pending motions of any of the nation’s 1,200 district and magistrate judges, according to Karlik. Such a backlog can result in serious adverse effects related to life disruptions for the parties, their legal costs, and the administration of justice.

As a rush of immigration cases came before federal judges in Colorado, due to the Trump administration’s mass deportation program, Domenico was an outlier in another way, Karlik reported in May. The judge had issued orders in only one-fifth of cases assigned to him in which an immigrant petitioner challenged their detention, and “he has granted far fewer petitions and taken much longer than his colleagues.” As Domenico dawdled, immigrants remained detained. In at least one case, a petitioner was removed from the country while waiting for Domenico to act.

Earlier in the year, Domenico declared that he agreed with the Trump administration’s extreme policy of no-bond detention for people without authorization even when they’ve been present in the U.S. for a long time. He was the only judge in Colorado to endorse the government’s position. Last week, the 10th Circuit — the court Domenico is trying to join — rejected the government’s position.

Domenico’s dismal performance on the bench might not rise to the level of disqualifying, but his performance before the Senate Judiciary Committee does. On June 24, he appeared before the committee as part of the nomination process, and Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut asked him, “Who won the 2020 election?”

Blumenthal has made a point of putting this question to Trump judicial nominees, who one after another prove themselves incapable of independence from the White House. Domenico is no different.

He did not answer the question. Blumenthal then asked him who won the popular vote in the 2020 election, and Domenico responded, “Commenting on a matter of political debate like that is inappropriate for a sitting judge.”

Blumenthal also asked him if he agreed “the Capitol was attacked on Jan. 6.”

“I would agree that individuals, from the videos I’ve seen, a number of individuals attacked police officers, engaged in violence, vandalism,” Domenico said meekly, but he refused to characterize the Jan. 6 insurrection as an “attack” because, he preposterously proposed, the nature of that day “is a matter of public debate.”

“I think the American people ought to be deeply disappointed,” Blumenthal told Domenico.

That’s an understatement. Coloradans should be angry that a MAGA sycophant like Domenico is poised to assume one of the most powerful judgeships in the country.