WASHINGTON — Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump on Wednesday released a list of 11 potential picks to replace Antonin Scalia on the U.S. Supreme Court, a mix of federal and state judges — including one from Pennsylvania — that appeared tailored to win over conservatives still skeptical of his candidacy.
The decision to release such a list is highly unusual for a presidential candidate, and comes as Mr. Trump is working to unite a Republican Party fractured by his candidacy and assuage still-skeptical establishment Republicans who question his ability to win a general election.
“I have a lot of people that are conservative that really like me, love everything I stand for, but they really would like to know my view,” Mr. Trump said Wednesday in an interview with Fox News, “because perhaps outside of the defense of our country, perhaps the single most important thing the next president is going to have to do is pick Supreme Court justices.”
The list, which featured several prominent names floated repeatedly on conservative wish lists to replace Justice Scalia, won immediate praise from those Mr. Trump is trying to win over.
“This list ought to be encouraging to anyone who prioritizes the rule of law, and I congratulate Mr. Trump on making a very significant policy statement about his desire to prioritize the future of the Supreme Court,” said Carrie Severino of the Judicial Crisis Network, a group leading the opposition to President Barack Obama’s pick to replace Justice Scalia, Merrick Garland.
Chuck Grassley, the Republican Senate Judiciary Committee chairman who has refused to hold a hearing to consider Judge Garland’s appointment to the high court, said Mr. Trump has “laid out an impressive list of highly qualified jurists.”
“Understanding the types of judges a presidential nominee would select for the Supreme Court is an important step in this debate so the American people can have a voice in the direction of the Supreme Court for the next generation,” he said.
Among the judges on Mr. Trump’s list is Joan Larsen, who serves on the Michigan Supreme Court. A former law clerk to Justice Scalia, Justice Larsen delivered one of the tributes to the late justice at his memorial service. She served in the Justice Department office that produced the legal justifications for the enhanced interrogation techniques, including waterboarding, that critics have called torture.
“I was surprised,” Justice Larsen said. “I did see the list and those are incredibly distinguished jurists and I’m honored to be associated with judges on that list. It’s an incredible list.”
Another pick is Don Willett, a justice on the Texas Supreme Court perhaps best known outside his state for his Twitter account, @justicewillett. Justice Willett has openly mocked Mr. Trump to his more than 35,000 followers, including on Aug. 27, when he wrote, “Can’t wait till Trump rips off his face Mission Impossible-style & reveals a laughing Ruth Bader Ginsburg.”
Mobbed by reporters Wednesday when he showed up at a book signing with Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott just as news of Mr. Trump’s list was breaking, Justice Willett giggled at the attention. He said he was “exercising judicial restraint” by declining to comment.
Also on the list is Pennsylvania’s Thomas Hardiman of the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Judge Hardiman did not respond to a request for comment.
When told that Judge Hardiman was on Mr. Trump's list, Jim Roddey — former Allegheny County GOP Committee chair and county executive — responded: "Really? That’s the first smart thing Donald Trump has ever said. [Judge Hardiman] was an excellent lawyer, and he was good at everything he’s ever done.”
A graduate of Notre Dame and Georgetown University School of Law, Judge Hardiman was nominated to replace William L. Standish by George W. Bush and approved by the Senate in 2003. In 2007, Mr. Bush appointed Judge Hardiman to the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals, where Judge Hardiman sits on the bench with Mr. Trump’s sister, Maryanne Trump Barry.
Prior to becoming judge, Judge Hardiman served as treasurer for the Republican Committee of Allegheny County and financially supported Republicans like Mr. Bush and then-Sen. Rick Santorum, as well as Congressman Tim Murphy and others. His wife, Lori, is a member of the prominent Zappala family. He had bipartisan allies: His 2003 nomination was supported by Democratic Pittsburgh Mayor Tom Murphy and County Controller Dan Onorato, who lauded Mr. Hardiman’s “legal acumen and civic-minded spirit.”
Initially, local attorneys expressed reservations about Judge Hardiman’s appointment. In 2003, the county’s bar association rated him as “not recommended at this time,” while the national bar association rated him as “qualified.” (The local bar evaluated him in absentia: Mr. Santorum urged the nominees not to meet with local associations.)
By Wednesday afternoon, liberal critics were voicing concern about Judge Hardiman’s record on the bench. That record includes a case in which Judge Hardiman upheld a jail’s right to conduct strip searches even for those detained for traffic offenses — a position later upheld by a closely divided Supreme Court.
Judge Hardiman also dissented from a 2013 decision which overturned a school’s ban on anti-breast cancer bracelets that said “I [heart] boobies.” (Judge Hardiman said the bracelets “fall into a gray area between … plainly lewd and merely indecorous,” and administrators had drawn the line between them reasonably.)
But locally, there were warm words for Judge Hardiman on both sides of the aisle Wednesday. “He was an outstanding lawyer, and he is a very capable, sensible, effective, thoughtful judge,” said Daniel Booker, a prominent Democrat and partner at Reed Smith, where Judge Hardiman was once a partner.
Mr. Roddey, a harsh critic of Mr. Trump, said Judge Hardiman’s inclusion on the short list was a pleasant surprise. “I would have thought [Mr. Trump] would have Judge Judy on that list."
Mr. Roddey said that while he hadn’t discussed judicial philosophy with Judge Hardiman, "I think he would be conservative. I would think along the lines of [Justice] Scalia.”
The list also included Steven Colloton of Iowa, Allison Eid of Colorado, Raymond Gruender of Missouri, Raymond Kethledge of Michigan, Thomas Lee of Utah, William Pryor of Alabama, David Stras of Minnesota and Diane Sykes of Wisconsin.
Mr. Trump’s list is also notable for the names that don’t appear. It omits two of the biggest stars in the conservative legal world, Judge Brett Kavanaugh of the federal appeals court in Washington, and former Bush administration Solicitor General Paul Clement.
Also absent is his former rival, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who clerked for former Chief Justice William Rehnquist and served as solicitor general in Texas.
Justice Lee was a law professor at the Mormon church-owned Brigham Young University and worked at a Salt Lake City firm practicing trademark, copyright and trade secret law.
Justice Lee is a former deputy assistant attorney general at the U.S. Department of Justice under Mr. Bush.
He clerked for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, who later swore Justice Lee into Utah’s Supreme Court.
Justice Lee earned a degree in economics from BYU and attended the University of Chicago Law School.
One of the women on Donald Trump’s list of potential Supreme Court nominees once sentenced two veteran abortion protesters to 60 days in jail.
Judge Sykes, 58, served as a Milwaukee County circuit judge from 1992 to 1999. She handed down the sentence in 1993 after the protesters bound themselves to a car blocking an abortion clinic doorway. She told them their motivations were pure and they possessed “fine character” — but their activities were illegal.
Republican Gov. Tommy Thompson appointed Judge Sykes to the state Supreme Court in 1999. Mr. Bush nominated her for a seat on the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in 2003. She holds a journalism degree from Northwestern University and a law degree from Marquette University.
Judge Sykes described herself as an “originalist-textualist” during a speech to the Wisconsin Bar Association in 2014.
Federal appeals court Judge Gruender also served as U.S. attorney in Missouri.
The 52-two-year-old has been a judge for the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, based in St. Louis, since 2004. He was confirmed in a Senate vote of 97-1 following his appointment by Mr. Bush.
Before that, Judge Gruender served for three years as U.S. attorney in St. Louis.
Judge Gruender is a St. Louis native. He declined to comment Wednesday about his place on Mr. Trump’s list.
Minnesota Supreme Court Associate Justice Stras also was a former law clerk for Justice Thomas.
The former University of Minnesota Law School professor was appointed in 2010 by Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty. Justice Thomas even traveled to Minnesota to administer the oath. Justice Thomas said Justice Stras was prepared “by training, by experience, by disposition” to for the job.
Earlier, Mr. Pawlenty said Justice Stras fit within his philosophy of a limited role for the judiciary.
At the same news conference Justice Stras called Justice Thomas “my mentor in the law,” but said they differ in how they approach legal questions. He said the role of judges is limited, and they can’t solve every problem, but they also play a crucial role in safeguarding liberty and protecting the rights of all citizens.
Also a former law clerk for Justice Thomas is Colorado Supreme Court Justice Eid.
Justice Eid was an assistant and speechwriter to Education Secretary William J. Bennet under President Ronald Reagan. In 2002, Mr. Bush appointed her to a panel preparing a history of the U.S. Supreme Court.
She was Colorado’s solicitor general and a University of Colorado law professor before Republican Gov. Bill Owens appointed her to the state Supreme Court in 2006.
Through a spokesman, Justice Eid declined to comment Wednesday.
In 2012, Justice Eid sharply dissented from a court opinion that upheld a congressional redistricting process that made several Colorado seats more competitive.
She argued the process should be as minimally disruptive as possible and called the latest round “astonishing,” especially since Colorado didn’t gain or lose any seats after the 2010 U.S. Census.
Justice Eid is married to Troy Eid, appointed by Bush as U.S. attorney for Colorado in 2006.
The eight men and three women on Donald Trump’s list of potential Supreme Court nominees come from all over the country, but they share one thing in common — all are white.
Since Justice Scalia’s unexpected death in February, both Mr. Trump and his likely Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton, have tried to make the Supreme Court a key election issue, reminding their supporters that its future is hanging in the balance of the 2016 election.
If Ms. Clinton is elected, Mr. Trump told supporters at a rally earlier this month, “You will have a Supreme Court that will destroy our nation.”
“The battle lines have been drawn and the two sides are now clear,” said Marjorie Dannenfelser, head of the anti-abortion group Susan B. Anthony List. She added the group is “already working to make the case to pro-life voters that the court matters and must be protected. This is not an election for pro-lifers to sit out.”
Ms. Clinton, meanwhile, had warned before Wednesday that Mr. Trump’s picks for the court would roll back the rights of individuals and further empower corporations. Ilyse Hogue, the president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, which has endorsed Ms. Clinton, panned the list as “a woman’s worst nightmare.”
“Their records reveal a lineup of individuals who would likely overturn Roe v. Wade if given the chance, gutting what’s left of abortion access in this country and heaping punishment on women,” she said.
Mr. Trump first said in March that he planned to release a list of potential justices in an effort to ease concerns about his conservative credentials, which had come under attack in the heated Republican primary. Among his critics was Cruz, who ran an ad saying Mr. Trump could not be trusted with a Supreme Court nomination.
It was a rare acknowledgment from Mr. Trump that he could be doing more to appease those in his party who opposed his candidacy.
“I am going to give a list of either five or 10 judges that I will pick, 100 percent pick, that I will put in for nomination,” Mr. Trump said at an event in Palm Beach, Fla. “Because some of the people that are against me say: ‘We don’t know if he’s going to pick the right judge. Supposing he picks a liberal judge or supposing he picks a pro-choice judge.’ ”
In other news, financial documents released Wednesday show that Mr. Trump has told the government that his myriad businesses have flourished with rising revenues since his improbable political success.
The presumptive Republican presidential nominee said revenue at his businesses grew by $190 million over the past 17 months.
Mr. Trump has so far declined to release his tax returns, making it difficult to confirm financial details. The filing also shows that Mr. Trump has invested in some of the companies that he uses as punching bags on the campaign trail.
At the same time, Ivanka Trump defended her father against charges that he mistreats women, insisting that the presumptive Republican presidential nominee is “not a groper.”
Ms. Trump, who has been one of her father’s most effective surrogates, was interviewed Wednesday on “CBS This Morning” and pressed about recent allegations from several women about her father’s behavior.
The candidate’s daughter denied that Mr. Trump frequently comments on women’s bodies and appearances. She also said she did not believe a claim that her father had groped a woman in a business meeting.
“Well, look, I’m — I’m not in every interaction my father has,” said Ms. Trump. “But he’s not a groper. It’s not who he is.”
Elsewhere, Mr. Trump is looking to break down the political wall between him and a segment of Hispanic voters: Latino evangelicals who tend to vote Republican.
Trump aides have told the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference that the presumptive Republican presidential nominee will submit videotaped remarks to be played at their annual conference this weekend in California. It’s one of his most overt moves to date to repair the damage he has done with members of the crucial Latino voting bloc, many of whom have bristled at Mr. Trump’s past name-calling, stereotyping and calls to deport undocumented immigrants.
Staff writer Chris Potter and Bloomberg News contributed.
First Published: May 18, 2016, 7:01 p.m.
Updated: May 19, 2016, 3:51 a.m.
