'Deal with the devil.' Secret Biden-McConnell deal on anti-abortion GOP judge enrages Democrats
Joe Sonka and Andrew Wolfson
Fri, July 1, 2022 at 3:15 AM
In this article:

Joe Biden
Joe Biden
46th president of the United States since 2021

Mitch McConnell
Mitch McConnell
American politician

John Yarmuth
John Yarmuth
American politician

Andy Beshear
63rd governor of Kentucky

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Democrats are blasting President Joe Biden for agreeing to nominate an anti-abortion Republican to a lifetime federal judgeship in Kentucky, less than a week after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.

"The president is making a deal with the devil and once again" and "the people of Kentucky are crushed in the process," Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Charles Booker tweeted after The Courier Journal broke the story Wednesday night.

"At a time when we are fighting to protect human rights, this is a complete slap in the face."

Chad Meredith
Chad Meredith
U.S. Rep. John Yarmuth, D-Louisville, who confirmed Biden is poised to nominate Chad Meredith to U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky, called it a "huge mistake."

More: Kentucky abortion clinics to reopen after judge grants temporary order

"Why you would pick him to fill a federal vacancy when you're a Democratic president is beyond me."

Yarmuth said the nomination is bad not only because Meredith is anti-abortion but because of his actions in the general counsel office when he helped former Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin issue hundreds of controversial pardons at the end of his term that spurred outrage and a federal investigation.

Gov. Andy Beshear, said Thursday he also strongly opposes the pick, saying his team was informed last week that Biden intended to nominate Meredith.

Beshear said his understanding is that Biden has not yet submitted the nomination, “which I hope means in the very least it's on pause.

“If the president makes that nomination, it is indefensible.”

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A GOP candidate in exchange for no more blocked nominees?
Biden was poised to nominate Meredith presumably as the result of an undisclosed deal with U.S. Mitch McConnell, Yarmuth told The Courier Journal.

McConnell has blocked the nominations of two lawyers for U.S. attorney positions there were recommended by Yarmuth. The presumption is that with Meredith's nomination, McConnell would agree not to hold up future federal nominations from the Biden White house, Yarmuth said.




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PARIS (AP) — France’s top administrative court ruled Tuesday against allowing body-covering “burkini” swimwear in public pools for religious reasons, arguing that it violates the principle of government neutrality toward religion.

While worn by only a small number of people in France, the head-to-ankle burkini draws intense political debate in the country.

Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin hailed the ruling by the Council of State as a “victory for secularism.” Some Muslim women decried it as unfairly targeting their faith and their bodies, and based on outdated misconceptions about Islam.

The city of Grenoble, led by a mayor from the Greens party, voted last month to allow women to wear burkinis in public pools after campaigning by local activists. The city also voted to allow women to swim topless, as part of a broader relaxation of swimwear rules.

The prefect, or top government official, for the Grenoble region blocked the burkini decision, arguing it ran counter to France’s secular principles.

The Council of State upheld the prefect’s move Tuesday, saying in a statement that the Grenoble vote was made “to satisfy a religious demand” and “harms the neutrality of public services.”

The ruling was the first under a controversial law, championed by President Emmanuel Macron, aimed at protecting “republican values” from what his government calls the threat of religious extremism.

Clothing rules in public pools in France are strict, for what authorities say are reasons of hygiene: caps are required, and baggy swim trunks or other voluminous clothing is generally banned. Wetsuits are not allowed in many pools too, as are some sun-protection suits.

A few other cities and towns allow burkinis in public pools. The city of Rennes is among them, but its decision was aimed at loosening swimwear rules and not based on religious reasons.

The Grenoble mayor argued that women should be able to wear what they want and express their religious conviction in pools like in the street. Opponents of the burkini – who include local officials from the far right but also the left — argued that the swimwear represents the oppression of women and a potential gateway to Islamic radicalism.