Clinton Impeachment Haunts Popular Judicial Nominee

California Senator Barbara Boxer is blocking the confirmation of a candidate for federal judge, who is backed by many prominent Democrats, because as a congressman he helped lead the drive to impeach Bill Clinton.

California Superior Court Judge Jim Rogan, a former Republican Representative from the southern California city of Glendale, has tremendous bipartisan support to become a federal trial judge in Los Angeles but Boxer has issued what is known as a “blue slip,” exercising her option to block a judicial nomination from her home state.

This despite the fact that Rogan is supported by liberals such as former representatives Pete Stark and Anna Eshoo as well as former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown. Even some key members of the Clinton impeachment defense team, including Clinton special counsel Lanny Davis, support Rogan’s lifetime appointment to the federal bench.

But it seems Boxer holds a grudge against Rogan for his role in her friend’s disgraceful impeachment. As a congressman, Rogan was on the 1988 House Judiciary Committee that helped present the case for Clinton’s impeachment in the Senate.

Through a spokeswoman, the veteran senator actually admitted her mission of revenge against Rogan in a local southern California daily, saying Rogan was one of the most enthusiastic backers of impeachment who thought President Clinton had committed high crimes and misdemeanors.

Senator Boxer has made headlines this year for her involvement in a variety of fiascos, including the disappearance of a wealthy Pakistani campaign donor (Abdul Rehman Jinnah) who appears on the FBI’s most wanted list. Incidentally, the fugitive has also donated big sums to Hillary Clinton.

In October Boxer secretly attached an amendment to a spending bill to block federal immigration enforcement until after the 2010 census because, counting illegal immigrants, can help her party gain additional congressional seats.