Ed Artau's first Senate hearing

 He was sitting next to Emil Bove, who drew most of the Senate's fire.

But Senator Blumenthal had some questions for Judge Artau.  From Law360:

One was Florida state appellate Judge Edward L. Artau for the Southern District of Florida. The others were for the Middle District of Florida, U.S. Magistrate Judge Kyle Dudek, Florida state appellate Judge Jordan Pratt and Florida state appellate Judge Anne-Leigh Gaylord Moe.

During Trump's first term, Pratt was counsel and then senior counsel at DOJ's Office of Legal Policy and deputy general counsel at the U.S. Small Business Administration, according to his LinkedIn profile.

In his prehearing questionnaire, he said while at DOJ, "I worked on various policy issues and worked to secure the confirmation of federal judges."

In February, Judge Artau was on the three-judge panel that ruled Trump could sue the Pulitzer Prize Board members in a defamation lawsuit following reporting that Trump colluded with Russia to win the 2016 presidential election.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., brought up this ruling during the hearing and argued that in the judge's concurrence, he "essentially parroted" Trump's talking points by "incorrectly calling the Russia story a 'now-debunked allegations'" and questioning the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in New York Times v. Sullivan , a landmark case protecting press coverage of public figures. Having said that, Blumenthal asked Judge Artau if litigants can expect him to be unbiased, especially when the federal government is a party.

"I've been a judge for 11 years. Nobody's ever questioned my integrity," he replied. "I know what you're getting at in terms of the issue, but I had no communications or expectations that I was even under consideration by the White House when I issued that opinion." He added he follows the Florida judicial canons very carefully.

Blumenthal then asked if had had spoken with the Florida senators about a federal judgeship prior to that ruling. Judge Artau said he spoke with Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., a few years ago about that, noting he is friends with Scott's general counsel.

This past November, when in Washington, D.C., the judge said he "paid him a courtesy visit like I do every year." In more of a back-and-forth, Blumenthal got him to say that he had been in talks with Scott's office for several years about a possible judicial nomination, and Blumenthal asked why he didn't recuse himself from the Pulitzer case.

Judge Artau pointed to the Florida judicial canons and said he didn't meet the requirements to recuse himself.