The Senate Judiciary Committee last week rejected Gov. Chris Christie’s nomination of Phillip Kwon as a state Supreme Court justice, which drew criticism from Republicans who believed Democrats were playing politics instead of evaluating Kwon’s qualifications. One of the critics is Republican Whip Sen. Kevin O’Toole, who spoke with NJToday Managing Editor Mike Schneider about the hearing.

O’Toole called the hearing “the most unfair process I’ve ever seen unfold in Trenton.” He took issue with the Democrats who voted not to confirm Kwon because he said no one indicated that Kwon was unqualified.

“For this public service that Phil Kwon has given the state, we should be saluting him,” O’Toole said. “We should be naming schools after him as opposed to demagoguing him and running him out of rails in Trenton.”

Much of the questioning focused on a liquor business Kwon’s parents owned. His mother had been investigated by federal authorities for making more than 200 deposits in amounts slightly less than $10,000, the threshold for having to report the deposits. Kwon’s family settled with investigators and no one was ever criminally charged in the case. O’Toole said some of the questions were fair, but said they should not have been the focus of the hearing.

Many Republicans have expressed outrage over leaked confidential questionnaires of Kwon and Bruce Harris, the second of Christie’s Supreme Court nominees. O’Toole said he has suspicions about who leaked the documents but would wait to hear the findings of Senate President Steve Sweeney, who has promised an investigation.

“Clearly it appears to me at the very least that a violation of the Senate rules occurred and there should be some penalty for that,” O’Toole said.

When asked if he believes Harris will be confirmed, O’Toole said if the committee votes solely on merit, Harris has a good chance of confirmation. He said that if members base their votes on politics or some other issue, the confirmation could be “problematic.”

“There’s no doubt there’s a political agenda. … Clearly this was a partisan hit,” O’Toole said of Kwon’s rejection. “He was collateral damage. He’s a qualified individual who just got railroaded.”

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