Durbin Slams Trump Admin For Nominating January 6 Apologists To Judicial U.S. Attorney Positions

Durbin Slams Trump Admin For Nominating January 6 Apologists To Judicial U.S. Attorney Positions

Durbin also condemned the FBI for seizing election records from Fulton County, Georgia, and Maricopa County, Arizona, in an effort to spread the Big Lie that the 2020 election was stolen; also highlighted the President's attempts to intimidate voters ahead of the 2026 midterms

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, delivered an opening statement during today's Senate Judiciary Committee executive business meeting slamming President Trump for pardoning violent January 6 rioters who have gone on to commit heinous crimes. Durbin also criticized President Trump for nominating extreme and unqualified U.S. attorney nominees who defended the January 6 rioters and embrace the Big Lie that the 2020 election was stolen.

Durbin also sounded the alarm on President Trump's threats to election integrity and attempts to interfere with the 2026 midterm elections. In February, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) seized hundreds of thousands of ballots from the 2020 presidential election in Fulton County, Georgia. This week, it was publicly reported that the FBI seized election records in Maricopa County, Arizona, another swing state that President Trump lost in 2020.

Durbin also spoke against the nomination of Phillip Williams, to be U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama.

Key Quotes:

"On his first day in office, President Trump issued a 'full, complete, and unconditional' pardon to nearly 1,600 rioters who stormed the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021 … Since President Trump's blanket pardon, they have gone on a violent crime spree, particularly targeting police officers who defended the Capitol and prosecutors and FBI agents who investigated them."

"Just last week, pardoned rioter Jake Lang was charged with threatening an officer who defended the Capitol. Lang told Metropolitan Police Commander Jason Bagshaw he should be 'put down like a dead dog' and '[p]ublic execution is the only solution for animals like you.' Also last week, rioter Bryan Betancur was arrested for assaulting a woman on a Metro train in Northern Virginia, the latest in a string of arrests… Also last week, rioter Andrew Johnson was sentenced to life in prison for multiple child sexual abuse offenses. Johnson, who called himself an 'American terrorist' and 'proud J6'er,' molested a child under 12 and another under 16 last year after he was pardoned by President Trump."

"To make matters worse, he tried to silence one of his victims by saying he would be compensated by the Trump Administration for being a January 6^th offender and would put the victim in his will."

"Meanwhile, President Trump continues to put forward extreme and unqualified U.S. attorney nominees who defend these January 6 rioters and embrace the Big Lie that the 2020 election was stolen. First, it was Ed Martin, who helped lead the so-called 'Stop the Steal' movement to overturn the 2020 election… Next, it was Wyoming U.S. Attorney nominee Darin Smith. [He has] zero experience as a litigator. It is hard to imagine a previous president of either political party would put a nominee forward for U.S. Attorney… with no courtroom experience. [Smith] was on Capitol grounds on January 6 and made the reprehensible claim that police officers who risked their lives that day were guilty of 'massive incompetence.'"

"Today, this Committee will consider another MAGA extremist with zero experience as a prosecutor: Phil Williams, nominated to be U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama... Williams called the prosecutions of January 6 rioters 'the Salem witch trials on a national scale.'"

"Why is the President nominating these January 6^th apologists? Because he wants to make the case that the 2020 election was stolen in order to justify interfering in the 2026 elections. And he wants loyalist prosecutors who will help him carry out this mission."

"Consider the recent raid in Fulton County, Georgia, where the FBI seized truckloads of election materials. Trump has been obsessed with Fulton County since his failed attempt in 2020 to pressure Georgia officials to 'find 11,000 votes to overturn the election [results].' And just this week, we learned that the FBI seized election records in Maricopa County, Arizona, another swing state that Trump lost in 2020."

"The endgame is clear. Trump himself told us, 'We should take over the voting … Republicans ought to nationalize the voting.' That's why Trump said this week that he would not sign any other legislation until Congress passes the so-called SAVE America Act, a bill that would disenfranchise millions of Americans."

"Republican Senators won't speak up against this authoritarian, but the American people will."

Video of Durbin's opening statement is available here.

Audio of Durbin's opening statement is available here.

Footage of Durbin's opening statement is available here for TV Stations.

Durbin then spoke further about Phillip Williams' nomination.

"Phillip Williams bears many unfortunate similarities to Ed Martin. Neither had any prosecutorial experience prior to their nomination. Instead, like Mr. Martin, Mr. Williams's main qualification appears to be his podcasts and social media posts in which he spouted MAGA orthodoxy. Both whitewashed January 6 and maligned law enforcement officers. Mr. Williams claimed that January 6 rioters were 'hunted down' by federal law enforcement, whom he accused of 'prosecutorial abuse, many, many times over.'"

"Mr. Williams's MAGA loyalty is not limited to whitewashing January 6. He claimed, without evidence, that federal judges who have ruled against President Trump are trying to 'set [Trump] up.' Mr. Williams applauded President Trump's deal to send migrants to the notorious CECOT prison in El Salvador because there is 'no intention of rehabilitation or release.' He said that the inhumane treatment of migrants is 'exactly what we voted for.'"

"Mr. Williams is not fit to be a U.S. Attorney. I urge my colleagues to oppose this nomination."

Video of Durbin's remarks about Mr. Williams is available here.

Audio of Durbin's remarks about Mr. Williams is available here.

Footage of Durbin's remarks about Mr. Williams is available here for TV Stations.

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