Source: United States Senator for Ohio Rob Portman
November 22, 2021 | Press Releases
WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Rob Portman (R-OH) introduced Ms. Bridget Meehan Brennan, Mr. Charles Esque Fleming, and Judge David Augustin Ruiz at their Senate Judiciary Committee nomination hearing to serve on the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio.
Senator Portman and Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) recommended these nominees through a bipartisan judicial commission and praised their distinct career achievements.
Senator Portman’s remarks as prepared for delivery are available below:
“Chairman Durbin, thank you for inviting me to introduce three distinguished Ohioans before the committee. I appreciate their willingness to step forward to serve in these important new roles. All of these nominees have pursued excellence throughout their careers and dedicated much of their lives to public service. Each of them went through the bipartisan judicial commission established by Senator Sherrod Brown and myself. I support their nominations to serve on the U.S. District Court in the Northern District of Ohio.
“David A. Ruiz, our first nominee, has served as a magistrate judge for the Northern District of Ohio since 2016. He is a Buckeye through and through, having earned both his undergraduate degree and his JD from the Ohio State University, and has demonstrated his commitment to working for the people of Ohio in public service.
“Before his current role, he served as the Northern District’s Assistant United States Attorney from 2010-2016 after seven years as a senior attorney for Calfee Halter & Griswold in Cleveland. I have every confidence he will maintain the level of excellence he has demonstrated in his career in this new role, and urge the committee to support his nomination.
“Our second nominee is Bridget Brennan, currently serving as Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio. In this role, she leads a team of almost 200 working to represent the millions of Americans living across Ohio’s 40 northernmost counties, including the cities of Cleveland, Akron, Toledo, and Youngstown.
“A graduate of John Carroll University and Case Western Reserve School of Law, Bridget has dedicated herself to serving the U.S. Attorney’s office for more than fourteen years in a number of critical positions, including the Office’s First Assistant, Chief of Criminal Division, Chief of Civil Rights Unit, and Ethics Advisor.
“Our final nominee, Charles Fleming, is another alumnus of Case Western Law. For three decades, he has advocated on behalf of countless individuals as the Assistant Federal Public Defender for the Northern District of Ohio. He has also served in a number of other roles, including as the Investigative and Paralegal Staff Supervisor from 2010 to 2016, and the Cleveland Trial Team Supervisor from 2016 to 2021.
“Charles’s long record of service to the Northern District Court means he is well-qualified to join the bench. I am pleased to support these nominations before the committee and I thank you for your consideration.
“As noted, the three district court nominees before us were recommended through our Ohio bipartisan judicial commission. I would like to acknowledge their hard work. They committed untold amounts of time and labor to ensure we found well-qualified candidates to serve on the bench. I especially want to thank my representatives on the commission—all highly respected members of the bar in Ohio: Jonathan Adler, Julie Byrne, Elizabeth Callan, Art Hernandez, Pete Kirsanow, Leah Pappas Porner, Pete Patterson, Chris Walker, and Philip Williamson—for their service.
“I was pleased to work with Senator Brown and the members of our bipartisan commission to recommend these distinguished nominees to the president, and I’m glad they also have Senator Brown’s support.”
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