Trump nominates another personal lawyer to a powerful federal appellate court
Matthew Schwartz is Trump’s nominee for the Second Circuit.
Trump on Friday announced that he’s nominating former Justice Alito clerk Matthew Schwartz to a New York seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. “A Partner at Sullivan and Cromwell, Matt has fought fiercely against Lawfare and Government Overreach, representing clients at all levels of Federal and State Judiciaries,” he said in his Truth Social post.
According to his law firm page, Schwartz “has represented some of the world’s leading corporations, financial institutions, and industry organizations. Mr. Schwartz provides regular advice on legislation and regulations in the AI, banking, FinTech, and payments fields.”
Schwartz is part of the legal team hired to work on Trump’s appeal of his criminal conviction in the Manhattan hush money case. That team replaced Emil Bove and Todd Blanche after their appointments to the Department of Justice last year. Bove was also rewarded with an appellate court seat and is now serving for life on the Third Circuit.
Trump also rewarded Justin Smith, another one of his personal lawyers, with a powerful circuit court seat. Smith, who has been nominated to a Missouri-based seat on the Eighth Circuit, is set to appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee next Wednesday.
This is Trump’s first nominee to the Second Circuit during his second term. During his first term, Trump appointed five men — including four white men — to this court, including his appointment of right-wing ideologue Steven Menashi who took the seat once held by Thurgood Marshall.
President Biden, on the other hand, appointed six judges to the Second Circuit during his presidency, and all six were women. Two of them worked as civil rights lawyers and three of them were former public defenders. Two were openly LGBTQ+ and two were women of color.
Schwartz could appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee sometime in May.