Menendez denies opposition to appointment is political payback

Sen. Robert Menendez (D., N.J.) said Friday that his decision to block a federal court appointment had nothing to do with the judge's relationship to a federal prosecutor who investigated him in 2006.

Menendez is the first Democrat to reject one of President Obama's judicial appointments. He said Judge Patty Shwartz, whom Obama nominated in October, was not qualified to serve on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in Philadelphia.

"Judge Shwartz did not adequately demonstrate the breadth of knowledge of constitutional law and pivotal Supreme Court decisions . . . that we should expect from a U.S. Circuit Court judge," Menendez, a lawyer serving his first full Senate term, said in a statement.

Both the White House and the state's senior senator, Democrat Frank Lautenberg, defended Shwartz's credentials Friday. One Senate insider called Menendez's criticism of Shwartz's credentials "laughable." She received the highest possible rating from the American Bar Association.

"With both the support of Sen. Lautenberg and the strong rating by the American Bar Association, it is clear that Judge Patty Shwartz is very well-qualified to serve on the Third Circuit," Brandon Lepow, a White House spokesman, said in a statement. "We are hopeful she will be confirmed in short order to fill this important seat."

Shwartz, 50, a magistrate judge in Newark, declined to comment Friday.

Shwartz has had a 20-year relationship with James Nobile, who heads the public corruption unit for New Jersey's U.S. Attorney's Office, the New York Times reported Friday.

In 2006, Nobile's unit launched a probe into Menendez's relationship with a nonprofit group, North Hudson Community Action Corp., that rented space from Menendez, paying him $300,000 over nine years.

Menendez, whom Democrat Jon S. Corzine appointed to finish the remainder of his Senate term when he became governor, was sworn in to the Senate in January 2006. Once there, he helped the nonprofit receive millions in grant money.

Prosecutors wanted to see if the group overpaid Menendez in rent in exchange for his support in Congress.

Two months before the election in November 2006, when Menendez faced a tough opponent for his first full term, prosecutors subpoenaed records about Menendez's rental agreement with the nonprofit.