Durbin Delivers Opening Statement During Senate Judiciary Committee Nominations Hearing

Durbin Delivers Opening Statement During Senate Judiciary Committee Nominations Hearing

During his opening remarks, Durbin also reflected on yesterday's Senate Judiciary Committee hearing featuring testimony from former Special Counsel Jack Smith

WASHINGTON - During today's Senate Judiciary Committee nominations hearing, U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, delivered an opening statement in which he outlined the extreme judicial nominees the Trump Administration has nominated, including the nominees before the Committee today.

Today's Committee hearing considered the nominations of: Lee Rudofsky, to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit; Robert Long, to the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida; Peter Mansfield, to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana; and Jesus Osete, to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri.

After commenting on today's judicial nominees, Durbin reflected on yesterday's Senate Judiciary Committee hearing featuring testimony from former Special Counsel Jack Smith.

Key Quotes:

"President Trump has made it clear he believes judges appointed by him should be reliable votes for the MAGA agenda. He said, 'it's really OK for them to be loyal to the person that appointed them'… When judges don't rule his way, President Trump attacks them, calling them 'rogue judges that are criminals,' and demanding that Republicans pass a 'tough crime bill that…cracks down on rogue judges.' He has repeatedly attacked his own Supreme Court appointees, most recently saying, 'they are merely a shell of their original selves.'"

"For President Trump, it's not enough that a judicial nominee be a principled conservative. Nominees must now demonstrate fealty to him and his MAGA agenda. So, President Trump has resorted to nominating ideologically extreme nominees in some cases-regardless of whether they have the qualifications to serve as a lifetime appointee."

"Look no further than today's panel. One of the nominees has only been out of law school for a decade and has been practicing for a grand total of seven years. Why should litigants have faith in these nominees that they'll have the knowledge and expertise to adjudicate the cases? That is not a matter of concern to the President. He only cares if they will be loyal."

"That loyalty is particularly important to President Trump at a time when jurists nominated during the first Trump Administration have been ruling against this President, including dozens who have ruled against this Administration's illegal mandatory immigration detention."

"And judges across the country, nominated by Presidents of both parties, have found the Trump Administration is repeatedly defying court orders. As Judge Patrick Schiltz-a George W. Bush appointee who clerked for Justice Scalia-found, ICE violated hundreds of court orders in Minnesota alone."

"In rare interviews earlier this month, Judge Schiltz and other judges spoke out about the 'grave threat to the rule of law' posed by this Administration's attacks. Last week, Chairman Grassley chastised Judge Schiltz and others, claiming that they violated the judicial canons by granting these interviews. In fact, the Advisory Opinion that the Chairman cited specifically permits 'the measured defense of judicial colleagues from illegitimate forms of criticism and attacks that risk undermining judicial independence or the rule of law.'… Judges don't give up their First Amendment rights when they assume the bench, particularly when it comes to preserving the rule of law."

Durbin then spoke about yesterday's hearing, in which former Special Counsel Jack Smith testified before the Committee.

"I'd like a minute to reflect on yesterday's hearing. We have been trying for a year to get Mr. Jack Smith, the Special Counsel, to appear before this Committee under oath…Since October of last year, we have been waiting for the chance. Yesterday was that moment. Mr. Smith came before us, took the oath, and submitted himself to questioning from both sides of the aisle for a lengthy period of time."

"What I found curious was the underlying charges which he was investigating-the instigation of the January 6 attack on the Capitol of the United States, as well as questioning the results of the 2020 election, together with the disposition of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago in Florida-was never raised on the Republican side of the aisle."

"Those substantive issues, which led to indictments, were not contested or questioned. Rather, it was Mr. Smith who was on trial for acting as a prosecutor in this case."

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.

-30-