Prep school rape case from 2014 comes back to haunt Biden’s latest troubled nominee

One of President Biden’s justice nominees was brutally interrogated Wednesday during a Senate confirmation hearing for his role in defending a New Hampshire preparatory school in a famous 2014 student rape case — a role that could nullify his nomination.

In a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, GOP Senators Michael Arthur Delaney, who is nominated to serve on a First Circuit Court, for his role as defense attorney for the elite St. Paul’s School in Concord, New Hampshire grilled during the trial of Owen Lambrie. When he was 18, Lambrie was accused of raping a 15-year-old college student named Chessy Prout.

The allegation at the hearing stemmed from a motion Delaney made during the 2014 trial, which could have asked for her anonymity to be removed from Prout, who was a minor at the time.

“They filed a motion aimed at removing their anonymity,” accused Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., at the hearing.

“You told the court it should happen because you didn’t like the timing of your attorney’s filing your complaint because it caused inconvenience to your school. You had to answer reporters’ questions, you said. Honestly, that seems like a bit of a burden after what Chessy has been through,” he said.

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“I’m amazed you were nominated. I can’t believe we’re sitting here having this conversation today,” Hawley added. “People who subject sexual assault victims to this type of torture should not sit on the bench.”

Delaney defended his position by saying the motion he filed was related to a back-and-forth between attorneys over whether Prout could remain anonymous and whether Prout’s legal team would agree not to discuss the case in the press. He said it was “in no way intended to intimidate any party to the case.” The application was eventually withdrawn, and Prout decided to make himself public.

But Republicans rejected that explanation.

“They made a decision here…to try to deprive a young girl of her anonymity. And you actually did it because you pushed them to do it,” Hawley claimed. “So not wanting to be intimidated by you, she stepped forward and revealed her own name.”

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Prout submitted a letter to the committee opposing Delaney’s nomination, excerpts from which Hawley read aloud.

“I remember so clearly reading Michael Delaney’s proposal cover to cover when I came home from my new high school one day and processed what it meant,” Hawley read of the letter. “And then I defiantly explained to my parents that after everything I’ve been dragged through, from anonymous death and rape threats online to betrayals and backlash from my closest friends. I would not let Michael Delaney’s dirty tactics bully me – then 16 years old – in shame and silence.”

“When survivors of sexual assault, harassment and abuse come forward to seek any semblance of justice, there is an army of attorneys with a tried and true playbook of tactics to discredit, pressure and silence survivors and victims to bring,” Hawley read from the letter.

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas., noted that Prout’s parents were in the audience at the hearing.

“You and your daughter have now been bullied three times,” Cruz said. “First on that dreadful night. Second, when Mr. Delaney, representing the school, went to court trying to strip your daughter of anonymity, tried to come out against her will. And third, when the Biden administration decided to reward him by nominating him on the Circuit Court of Appeals.”

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Cruz added that “there’s a reason virtually all Democrats skipped this hearing. They are embarrassed by this nomination.” At least seven committee Democrats were absent from the hearing.

Cruz read another portion of Prout’s letter, which said, “If Michael Delaney is confirmed, if an attorney who brazenly intimidated a child sexual assault victim is granted special privilege to serve as a judge for the United States Court of Appeals To act, you tell victims and survivors that you not only condone victim intimidation tactics, but reward their enactors with one of the highest legal appointments in the state of Massachusetts.

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Delaney said he hopes the committee will consider “the entirety” of his 30-year career when making his nomination.

“I’ve spent almost 30 years in my legal career, half of it in the public sector,” he said.

“In everything I have done, I would ask this committee to consider the entirety of my records spanning nearly 30 years when reviewing my qualifications,” Delaney added.

In a statement to Fox News Digital, White House spokesman Seth Schuster said, “Former New Hampshire Attorney General Delaney has a strong track record of upholding the rule of law, including taking steps to protect vulnerable victims,” ​​adding added that Delaney “collaborated”. is committed to creating New Hampshire’s first network of sexual assault response teams and a multidisciplinary human trafficking commission, and was recognized by the New Hampshire Governor’s Commission on Domestic and Sexual Violence for Outstanding Commitment to Collaborative Multidisciplinary Efforts to Reduce Domestic Violence in New Hampshire awarded New Hampshire.”

“The White House has the utmost respect for survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence and expects senators to consider Mr. Delaney’s full record when considering his nomination — just as the White House did before he nominated Mr. Delaney for the… First Circuit nominated,” Schuster said.