Disgraced Former Senator Lobbying Senate Republicans to Confirm a Criminal Judicial Nominee

Breitbart News has learned that former senator-turned-China lobbyist David Vitter (R-LA) has been calling Senate Republicans to persuade them to vote for Biden’s nominee to the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, which could lead to Vitter’s wife possibly snatching up another vacant court seat.

Vitter has allegedly placed calls to numerous Senate Republicans hoping to convince them to vote in favor of Andre Mathis, who was reported by Breitbart News to have had his driver’s license suspended three times, and Vitter got Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) to agree.

If confirmed, Mathis would be Biden’s first judicial appointment in a state represented by two Republican senators. Kennedy was the sole Judiciary Republican to vote to advance Mathis.

Senate Republicans, including rank-and-file and leadership, had urged Kennedy to vote against advancing Mathis.

Mathis’s advancement through the Senate Judiciary Committee especially carries weight as he faced fierce opposition from his home state senators, Sens. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and Bill Hagerty (R-TN).

During his confirmation hearing in January, Blackburn expressed concerns that Mathis was unable to answer “basic” questions about the Constitution, including the Second Amendment.

Kennedy had also raised concerns during a Senate Judiciary Committee meeting that the Biden White House did not meaningfully discuss the nomination with Blackburn and Hagerty, despite his vote to advance Mathis.

“It makes no sense to me why the executive branch wants to lead with its chin and not meaningfully consider the opinion of the home state senators. By not doing that you automatically start two votes down,” he said.

The news comes as Peter Schweizer’s new book, Red-Handed: How American Elites Get Rich Helping China Win, revealed that Vitter has been involved in lucrative deals with Chinese surveillance company China Electronics Group, which produces cameras to monitor Uyghurs in CCP concentration camps. Vitter is one of the 23 former U.S. senators and congressmen to have lobbied for Chinese military or- intelligence-linked companies after leaving office.

Vitter was known in his time in the Senate for his conservative bonafides and hardline stance on immigration, but became ensnared in a prostitution scandal toward the end of his career, including allegations he has a “diaper fetish.”

Vitter confessed after a journalist found the senator’s number in the “D.C. Madam” Deborah Jeane Palfrey’s phone records.

Wendy Vitter, Vitter’s wife, is currently the judge for the United States District Court in the Eastern District of Lousiana. Then-President Donald Trump nominated her for the position; she was confirmed by a 52-member Republican majority.

Vitter’s advocacy for Mathis could be seen as a way to help secure a more lucrative federal court position for his wife. There is currently an opening on the more prestigious 5th circuit court of appeals.