Records Contradict Biden Judicial Nominee’s Claim That She Never Registered As Lobbyist

President Joe Biden’s Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals nominee claimed she never registered as a lobbyist, but records reveal she did.

That nominee, Roopali Desai, wrote in her Senate Judiciary Committee questionnaire that she never registered as a lobbyist. However, The Daily Wire discovered that Desai is registered as an inactive lobbyist within the Arizona secretary of state’s lobbyist database. Her presence in the record system dates back nearly a decade.

“[I] have not performed lobbying activities or registered as a lobbyist,” wrote Desai in her questionnaire.

It appears that this contradiction escaped the Senate’s notice, as Desai’s nomination was expedited to an executive business meeting Thursday. The Senate Judiciary Committee voted to advance her nomination to the Senate floor; the only “no” votes came from senators Mike Lee (R-UT), Ted Cruz (R-TX), Josh Hawley (R-MO), and Marsha Blackburn (R-TN). It’s a comparatively quick turnaround: Desai’s initial hearing occurred about two weeks ago on July 13, about a month after her nomination.

According to the latest Congressional Research Service (CRS) report on judicial nomination statistics, the amount of time circuit court nominees wait until confirmation averaged 139 days during Bill Clinton’s presidency, 216 days during George W. Bush’s presidency, 229 days during Barack Obama’s presidency, and 133 days during Donald Trump’s presidency.

The phone number listed on Desai’s lobbyist profile links to the Phoenix, Arizona-based Coppersmith, Schermer, & Brockelman law firm, now Coppersmith Brockelman, where Desai currently serves as a partner.

Lobbyist records for Coppersmith Brockelman show that the firm is registered as an inactive lobbyist as well. They lobbied for the Arizona Hospital and Healthcare Association (AHHA) from January 2001 to January 2017, Promise Arizona (PAZ) in Action from February 2013 to January 2015, and Sun Health Services from February to September 2002.

Desai’s lobbyist listing under Coppersmith Brockelman shows that she began as a lobbyist-affiliated employee in February 2013, six days after she testified to an Arizona Senate committee on behalf of PAZ in Action. Back then, current Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs was a state senator, serving on the committee to which Desai testified. Desai has served as a longtime contract attorney for Hobbs, even serving on the secretary of state’s transition team.

In her testimony, Desai petitioned for the legislature to not remove inactive voters from the state’s Permanent Early Voting List (PEVL) system.

“I respectfully submit that the conversations that I’ve had with Promise Arizona in Action and other community groups are really talking about whether or not this proposed legislation is good for the voters. And, we believe that it’s not good for the public,” argued Desai. “I think there are ways to draft legislation to improve the issue of provisional ballots, and I think one of those ways is to arm the counties with resources and with information about tracking down people who have bad addresses.”

That same month, February 2013, PAZ in Action became one of the lobbyist clients for Desai’s firm. 2013 was also the year Desai made partner at the firm, having been an associate there since 2007.

The Daily Wire reached out to Coppersmith Brockelman for comment multiple times. They didn’t respond by press time.

Although Desai’s lobbying registration wasn’t addressed during the initial Senate hearing several weeks ago, Republicans did broach other issues. Several Republican senators expressed concern that the majority of Desai’s legal career and her community leadership advanced Democratic Party interests.

Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC) pointed out that observation to Desai, but she rejected Tillis’ characterization.

“My work as a litigator for almost 20 years spans a much broader range of clients and matters than just the ones you’ve referenced,” said Desai.

Senator Mike Lee questioned the quality of an argument Desai proposed in one major separation of church and state case, noting that an authority she cited didn’t exist. Lee served as general counsel to former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman and clerked with Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito; his father, Rex Lee, was the Solicitor General under former President Ronald Reagan.

“It does cause me some concern because the source of authority is one you can’t identify, I believe because it doesn’t exist,” said Lee.

Desai’s most public cases of late emerged from deep ideological rifts exacerbated by the COVID pandemic and the 2020 election. In one of those cases, Brnovich v. Democratic National Committee (DNC), Desai filed a brief in support of the DNC that argued Arizona laws requiring precinct voting and banning ballot harvesting were violations of the Voting Rights Act (VRA). In Arizona Democratic Party, et al. v. Fann, et al., Desai fought to shut down the Arizona Senate’s audit of the 2020 election, referring to it as a “so-called audit” in court proceedings.

It was cases like these, in the context of her past work, that caused Desai to be selected as one of USA Today’s 2022 Women of the Year.

Prior to 2020, Desai fought in widely-reported cases

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