- Oct 17, 2011
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He’s never held public office or donned a judge’s robes, but an arch-conservative Los Angeles County attorney is racing toward confirmation on the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals
A competitive target shooter with a background in a cryptocurrency, Eric Tung was approached by the White House Counsel’s Office on March 28 to replace Judge Sandra Segal Ikuta, a Bush appointee and one of the court’s most prominent conservatives, who is taking senior status.
A new father and still a relative unknown in national legal circles, Tung found an ally in pal Mike Davis, a reputed “judge whisperer” in Trump’s orbit.
In the past, senators from a potential judge’s home state could block a nomination — a custom Trump exploded when he steamrolled Washington senators to install Eric D. Miller to the 9th Circuit in 2019.
Tung has been tight-lipped about his ascent to the country’s busiest circuit. He did not respond to inquiries from The Times.
Both Tung and his wife Emily Lataif have close ties to the anti-abortion movement. Tung worked extensively with the architect of Texas’ heartbeat bill; Lataif interned for the Susan B. Anthony List, an anti-abortion policy group that seeks to make IUDs and emergency contraception illegal and opposes many forms of in-vitro fertilization.
When asked by Sen. Chris Coons of Delaware whether he believed IVF was protected by the Constitution, Tung declined to answer.
Sen. Adam Schiff pushed the nominee for his opinion on Loving vs. Virginia, the 1967 case affirming interracial marriage.
“Was that wrongly decided?” the California lawmaker asked the aspiring judge.
“Senator, my wife and I are an interracial couple, so if that case were wrongly decided I would be in big trouble,” Tung said.
“You’re willing to tell us you believe Loving was correctly decided, but you’re not willing to say [Obergefell and Lawrence v Texas] were correctly decided,” Schiff said. “That seems less originalist and more situational.”
A competitive target shooter with a background in a cryptocurrency, Eric Tung was approached by the White House Counsel’s Office on March 28 to replace Judge Sandra Segal Ikuta, a Bush appointee and one of the court’s most prominent conservatives, who is taking senior status.
A new father and still a relative unknown in national legal circles, Tung found an ally in pal Mike Davis, a reputed “judge whisperer” in Trump’s orbit.
In the past, senators from a potential judge’s home state could block a nomination — a custom Trump exploded when he steamrolled Washington senators to install Eric D. Miller to the 9th Circuit in 2019.
Tung has been tight-lipped about his ascent to the country’s busiest circuit. He did not respond to inquiries from The Times.
Both Tung and his wife Emily Lataif have close ties to the anti-abortion movement. Tung worked extensively with the architect of Texas’ heartbeat bill; Lataif interned for the Susan B. Anthony List, an anti-abortion policy group that seeks to make IUDs and emergency contraception illegal and opposes many forms of in-vitro fertilization.
When asked by Sen. Chris Coons of Delaware whether he believed IVF was protected by the Constitution, Tung declined to answer.
Sen. Adam Schiff pushed the nominee for his opinion on Loving vs. Virginia, the 1967 case affirming interracial marriage.
“Was that wrongly decided?” the California lawmaker asked the aspiring judge.
“Senator, my wife and I are an interracial couple, so if that case were wrongly decided I would be in big trouble,” Tung said.
“You’re willing to tell us you believe Loving was correctly decided, but you’re not willing to say [Obergefell and Lawrence v Texas] were correctly decided,” Schiff said. “That seems less originalist and more situational.”
