WASHINGTON, D.C., April 15, 2026 – Today the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing to consider the nomination of Justin Smith, who President Trump nominated to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. Trump’s personal lawyer in both the presidential immunity and E. Jean Carroll cases, Smith is a Trump true believer with a disturbing record of anti-voting rights, anti-abortion, anti-environment, and anti-LGBTQ+ advocacy. Today’s hearing further revealed how dangerously unfit Smith is to receive a lifetime appointment on a powerful federal appeals court.
During the hearing, Democratic senators pressed Smith on his loyalty to Trump. Smith refused to budge from the scripted Trump-nominee response that Joe Biden was merely “certified” as winner of the 2020 election. Asked several times, he simply would not say who won that election outright, a reminder that he was part of Missouri’s effort to help invalidate the election results in several states. He likewise would not say that there was an “attack” on the Capitol on January 6, nor did he back down from the implications of presidents acting unlawfully without accountability thanks to his role in the presidential immunity case. Disappointingly, he would not even confirm that he would recuse from cases in which Trump had a personal stake, despite his close relationship as his attorney.
Alliance for Justice and many other organizations openly protested Smith’s nomination at today’s hearing.
Alliance for Justice President Rachel Rossi issued the following statement:
“Justin Smith demonstrated today that he cannot be trusted to uphold the rule of law. He has dedicated his career to undermining the Constitution to support Trump’s authoritarian behavior and to hold back the advancement of civil rights. There is every reason to believe that this is exactly how he will act as a judge, and he offered nothing in today’s hearing to suggest otherwise.
“Trump’s motivations for appointing his personal attorneys like Justin Smith to our federal courts are obvious. In the short term, he’s hoping to stack the court with judges loyal to him and his unlawful actions above all else. In the long term, he’s hoping these judges will continue to enshrine his undemocratic MAGA legacy for generations to come.
“Smith is not the first nor the last of Trump’s attorneys he’s trying to appoint to the bench. We’ve already seen Emil Bove use his position on an appeals court to prop up Trump’s unlawful behavior and Matthew Schwartz is waiting in the wings. Trump’s nefarious plot is obvious, and the Senate must ensure Smith’s confirmation does not move forward.”
Read more about Justin Smith’s egregious record and the growing opposition to his nomination.