I always wondered how a magistrate judge got his appointment.
Back in late 1998 I filed a civil RICO (racketeering) lawsuit against a U.S. Attorney in south Florida.
Much later I found out that before becoming the U.S. Attorney in south Florida, he had been a federal judge in south Florida. (caught him and his colleagues lying to the federal court).
Then in 2001 there was a rumor that he was a potential candidate for the FBI Director job, to replace Louis Freeh,after all he had one of the primary qualifications to be Director of the FBI, lying under oath.
All of this made me incredibly popular with his former colleagues on the federal bench in south Florida, LOL !!!!!!