Durbin Presses MAGA Nominee To Lifetime Position On The Court Of International Trade About Inflammatory Social Media Posts Spreading Conspiracy Theories About January 6[...]

Durbin Presses MAGA Nominee To Lifetime Position On The Court Of International Trade About Inflammatory Social Media Posts Spreading Conspiracy Theories About January 6 Insurrection

Durbin questioned if Kara Westercamp has the temperament to serve given her hateful and inflammatory social media posts against Senate Republicans and others

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today questioned Kara Westercamp, nominated to a lifetime appointment on the Court of International Trade (CIT) at a Senate Judiciary Committee nominations hearing. Durbin questioned Ms. Westercamp about her inflammatory social media posts where she repeatedly referred to Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) as "Cocaine Mitch." She also retweeted a post which accused him of "embody[ing] everything that's wrong with politics," and once wrote that Senator Graham is "true to NO ONE, but [his] own self-preservation."

"Would you like to apologize to those Senators and others that you've referred to in your social media today?" Durbin asked.

In response to Durbin's question, Ms. Westercamp apologized.

Durbin then asked Ms. Westercamp about her social media posts that elevated conspiracy theories regarding the January 6, 2021, insurrection on the U.S. Capitol.

"You said law enforcement was complicit in the violence and you appeared to agree with a tweet that said that the attack was 'orchestrated by Members of the Senate and Members of the Capitol police'… You downplayed the violence of that day-including assaults on law enforcement-by retweeting a post [stating] 'we're all supposed to be sending Thoughts & Prayers to traumatized Members of Congress whose workday was interrupted for a couple hours.' Ms. Westercamp, are you willing to denounce here and now the violence perpetrated on January 6 in this Capitol building?" Durbin asked.

Ms. Westercamp responded that she "condemns all violence," and stated that using social media to retweet such controversial topics is not "proper." Despite Ms. Westercamp's claims that she condemns the violence on January 6^th, she offered no apology to the Capitol police officers who defended the Capitol that day.

"Will you apologize to the law enforcement officers for spreading the conspiracy theory that they were somehow complicit in the violence of January 6?" Durbin asked.

Ms. Westercamp responded only that she regrets retweeting those inflammatory posts.

Given her controversial social media posts, Durbin questioned whether she has the temperament for a lifetime appointment.

Video of Durbin's questions in Committee is available here.

Audio of Durbin's questions in Committee is available here.

Footage of Durbin's questions in Committee is available here for TV Stations.

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