Sen. John Cornyn falsely accused Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson of calling Bush and Rumsfeld war criminals.
Sen. Cornyn asked, “Let me just ask, I don’t know you well, but I’ve been impressed by our interaction and you’ve been gracious and charming. Why in the world would you call the secretary of defense Rumsfeld and George W. Bush war criminals in a legal filing? It seems so out of character for you.”
Judge Jackson answered, “Senator, you may have been — are you talking about briefs, habeas petitions that I filed?”
Cornyn continued, “I’m talking about when you were representing a member of the Taliban and the department of defense identified him as an intelligence officer for the Taliban, and you referred to the secretary of defense and the sitting President Of The United States as war criminals. Why would you do something like that? It seems so out of character. ”
Jackson replied, “Well, senator, I don’t remember that particular reference and I was representing my client and making arguments. I would have to take a look at what you meant. I did not intend to disparage the president or the secretary of defense.”
Cornyn finished with, “Well, being a war criminal has huge ramifications, you could be subject to the international court and hauled before the international tribunal and tried for war crimes. So it’s not a casual comment, I would suggest. Thank you. ”
Judge Jackson Never Called Bush And Rumsfeld War Criminals
Here is the filing that Cornyn was referring to:
On Cornyn's claim that Judge Jackson called President Bush and Secretary Rumsfeld "war criminals": While a public defender, she filed a habeas petition on behalf of a #GTMO detainee alleging that he had been tortured in violation of int'l law; Bush and Rumsfeld were respondents.
— Steve Vladeck (@steve_vladeck) March 22, 2022
Here's the petition:https://t.co/W07WM4Lqj1
Needless to say, the implication that, by filing this brief on behalf of her client, #KBJ *specifically* called Bush and Rumsfeld "war criminals" is, at the very least, misleading.
— Steve Vladeck (@steve_vladeck) March 22, 2022
Calling the claim misleading is generous. Sen. Cornyn’s statement was false. The fact that Republicans are using false statements to justify their opposition to Biden’s nominee suggests that they can’t find anything wrong with Judge Jackson’s character or record, but they need some reason to justify their opposition beyond the fact that she was nominated by a Democratic president, so they are making misleading statements during her hearing.
Republicans are so desperate to vote no that they are making things up about Judge Jackson.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
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