Brian Leslie of Wallingford, a state prosecutor picked by Gov. M. Jodi Rell as one of her 10 new nominees for Superior Court judgeships, abruptly asked Monday that the governor withdraw his nomination — and she did so, the legislature’s judciary committee co-chairman said.
Leslie’s judicial hopes were put in serious jeopardy Sunday by Courant columnist Kevin Rennie, who reported that Leslie was passed over for a promotion in 2002 — and later began “subverting” the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit of the chief state’s attorney’s office, according to sworn testimony in a 2005 deposition by Deputy Chief State’s Attorney Paul Murray.
Rennie’s column — which said that Leslie’s nomination shows that Rell “has become an egregious hack” — can be read by clicking here.
Leslie had been scheduled for a confirmation hearing before the legislature’s judiciary committee Friday in the Legislative Office Building in Hartford. Rennie said legislators should reject the nomination. But now it will not come to that.
General Assembly judiciary committee co-chairman Michael Lawlor said Monday afternoon that Rell’s office had informed him of Leslie’s request and the governor’s response.
“There’s definitely something wrong with the governor’s vetting process,” Lawlor said. “Among other things, she does not reach out to people to solicit input — and I think if she had reached out, she would have had more input on this particular nomination.”