Confirmation hearings got going on Wednesday for U.S. Attorney for northern Indiana Thomas Kirsch, who is nominated by President Trump to take the seat left behind by judge Amy Coney Barrett on the U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago.
Kirsch was introduced in his confirmation hearing by both of Indiana’s senators, Mike Braun and Todd Young. Both senators believe there is no better choice than Kirsch.
Kirsch is a graduate of Indiana University and Harvard Law School who worked under then U.S. Attorney Joseph van Bokkelen in the early 2000s.
After Bokkelen was confirmed US District Court of Northern Indiana in 2007, Kirsch joined a private law practice until he was nominated to serve as U.S. Attorney for northern Indiana himself by President Trump in 2017.
“Thomas Kirsch has prosecuted gangs, narcotics crimes, and a wind range of fraud and abuse cases,” Braun said to the Senate Judiciary Committee. “But it is his dedication to rooting our fraud and corruption that I find most impressive.”
Braun said Kirsch is more than qualified to serve on the seventh circuit because of his “diverse and exemplary” prosecution record.
“Throughout his career, he has shown judicial temperament that will serve him well in the public trust,” he added. “He has demonstrated a profound respect for the law that I am confident will guide him to apply statutes as written, not create his own from the bench.”
If confirmed, Kirsch would take the seat left behind by Justice Amy Coney Barrett, who was confirmed to the US Supreme Court last month.
