Pelosi praises Biden nominee who vouched for domestic abuser: ‘champion for justice’

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House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Thursday praised Rep. Marcia Fudge as a “champion for justice and equality” after she was picked for President-elect Joe Biden’s cabinet -- despite her 2015 decision to vouch for a man accused of domestic abuse who later murdered his ex-wife after being released.

“Congresswoman Marcia Fudge is a champion for justice and equality, who has been a driving force in Congressional Democrats’ work to strengthen our democracy and defend the dignity and civil rights of all Americans,” Pelosi said in a statement.

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Biden announced Fudge, D-Ohio, will be his pick for Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Fudge has served as the representative for Ohio’s 11th Congressional District since 2008. 

Fudge, who is the former Congressional Black Caucus Chair and Mayor in Ohio, will also be the first female to lead HUD in over 40 years. 

However, Fudge faces potential hurdles for confirmation, including that in 2015 she asked a judge for leniency on behalf of former Ohio state legislator Lance Mason.

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At the time that Fudge wrote the letter, Mason was accused of violently beating his wife in front of their two children, according to Politico, which reported the story in Oct. 2018.

"Lance accepts full responsibility for his actions and has assured me that something like this will never happen again," Fudge wrote in a letter to the judge. "Lance Mason is a good man who made a very bad mistake. I can only hope that you can see in Lance what I and others see," she added. 

Mason was released and went on to murder his ex-wife in 2018. He was sentenced to life in prison in Sept. 2019 after pleading guilty to Fraser's murder. 

Fudge later expressed shock over Mason's actions. 

“My heart breaks for Aisha Fraser. I pray for Aisha’s family, especially her children, as they attempt to deal with this tragedy,” Fudge said in a statement in 2018 after Mason's arrest. “My support of Lance in 2015 was based on the person I knew for almost 30 years — an accomplished lawyer, prosecutor, state legislator and judge. That’s the Lance Mason I supported. The person who committed these crimes is not the Lance Mason familiar to me. They were horrific crimes, and I condemn them.”

Fox News’ Thomas Barrabi and Peter Hasson contributed to this report.