Neomi Rao, President Donald Trump’s nominee to fill a fedaral appeals court vacancy left by Brett Kavanaugh’s ascension to the Supreme Court
(Zach Gibson)

Washington (AFP) – President Donald Trump’s nominee to a top judgeship was questioned closely in her confirmation hearing Tuesday about her past writings in which she appears to excuse certain cases of rape.

Neomi Rao, 45, was tapped for a seat on the federal court of appeals in Washington, filling a vacancy created when Brett Kavanaugh rose to the Supreme Court.

The nomination, like those to all other federal judgeships, must be confirmed by the US Senate.

Kavanaugh was narrowly approved for his Supreme Court seat after a contentious confirmation hearing that aired an accusation of sexual assault that dated from his high school years.

His potential successor also is dealing with questions from her past.

If a woman “drinks to the point where she can no longer choose, well getting to that point was part of her choice,” Rao wrote in a college publication while attending Yale University in the early 1990s.

In another of her college writings, she evoked “the dangerous feminist idealism which teaches women that they are equal.”

On Tuesday, she was questioned at length about those views by members of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Senator Patrick Leahy, a Democrat and former committee chairman, said if Rao were to push those views of rape as a judge it would result “in victims too ashamed to come forward, and it could also result in juries excusing culpable defendants.”

Rao sought to distance herself from the writings, saying she wrote them during “a time of exploration.”

“Looking back I cringe at some of the language that I used, I was young,” she said. “I like to think that I have matured as a thinker, a writer and indeed as a person.” 

She also sought to minimize her comments on alcohol as “common sense observation on some actions that women could make to be less likely to be a victim of such a horrible crime.”

Rao, who currently is director of the administration’s office of regulatory affairs, also was accused by her critics of weakening environmental protections and rules against discrimination.

During the 2016 campaign, Trump promised conservatives that he would name judges who shared their values. Since taking office, he has obtained the confirmation of 85 judicial nominees and has nominated 50 others to vacant judgeships.

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