Gov. Ed Rendell's office announced last night, that Jim Thorpe attorney Gregory Lee Mousseau's nomination to fill a vacant judgeship in Carbon County's Court of Common Pleas has been withdrawn.

An e-mail sent from Barry Ciccocioppo, deputy director of communications for the governor's office, stated that "Mousseau's nomination has been withdrawn and he has been informed."Wednesday morning, during a phone interview with the TIMES NEWS, Mousseau confirmed that he received word from the governor's office, stating that the nomination for the appointment had been withdrawn.The initial nomination was to fill a vacant spot in the court that was created after Judge David W. Addy passed away on Dec. 17, 2009.Since then, Senior Judge Richard Webb has been handling Addy's workload and, according to officials, will remain in that position until a new judge is elected during the November 2011 election.Sen. Dave Argall issued the following statement concerning Governor Rendell's recent action to rescind the nomination of Mousseau."The Governor's recent actions regarding the judicial vacancy in Carbon County have confused many people. Attorney Mousseau, an excellent lawyer whom I have known for many yearsand all the citizens of Carbon Countydeserve a full explanation by the Governor. The Senate leadership has been told that the Governor withdrew this nomination because of some backroom political deal involving a Democratic judicial nominee in Philadelphia, whose nomination was also withdrawn. If this is correct, the Governor owes all of us an apology."