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While Judge Brasel is a Trump judge in that she was nominated by Trump, her background is wildly different from most, if not all, of his nominees. She began her career as clerk for a senior eighth circuit judge who had originally been appointed by LBJ. She later was named to a judgeship on the Minnesota state courts by then-governor Mark Dayton, a Democrat. Her elevation to the federal courts was arranged by Amy Klobuchar as part of a deal where Trump would nominate Brasel along with Eric Tostrud, a Federalist Society disciple who had clerked for republican judges and was recommended for a judgeship by Republican house member Erik Paulsen.

Brasel may be best known for upholding a state court ruling that ballots received seven days after the 2020 election must be counted.

Mostly, what distinguishes her from being a true "Trump judge" is that, unlike most if not all of Trump's nominees, she actually has the skills, knowledge, and experience to be a federal court judge, having been rated "unanimously well qualified" by the ABA.