Chuck Schumer Slams Top Judicial Nominee, Praises Democrats For Walking Out Of Confirmation Hearing

Forbes Breaking News

During remarks on the Senate floor Monday, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) praised his Democratic colleagues for walking out of a confirmation hearing for Emil Bove.

Transcript

00:01Now on Mr. Bove, Emil Bove.

00:04Last week, Senate Republicans on the Judiciary Committee

00:07reported out one of Donald Trump's worst judicial nominees yet, Emil Bove.

00:11And that's saying a lot, because there are so many bad ones.

00:15Judiciary Republicans were so afraid to talk about Mr. Bove's nomination

00:20that, in fact, the Republican chair cut off debate time

00:23and refused to let all Democrats speak.

00:26And rather than being part of this farce, Judiciary Democrats,

00:31led by my friend, the ranking member, Senator Durbin,

00:35rightly walked out of the hearing.

00:37I commend my Democratic colleagues for standing up for the integrity of our courts

00:41and refusing to participate in a compromise committee process

00:45for a deeply compromised nominee.

00:48It's obvious why the Republicans were so eager to cut off debate.

00:53They know the arguments against Mr. Bove are telling,

00:56and so unworthy of anyone nominated to a court of appeals

01:01or any judicial position in this government.

01:06Mr. Bove is the perfect example of the type of person Donald Trump wants on the bench.

01:12Political, aggressive, unprofessional, abusive,

01:16and ready and willing to put the Trump agenda over the rule of law.

01:21We all know what Donald Trump wants from judges.

01:23Complete obeisance to whatever he wants, regardless of rule of law,

01:27regardless of precedent, regardless of the Constitution.

01:31And Mr. Bove has a long history of defending Donald Trump

01:35when he was his personal attorney.

01:37He defended the president when the president was accused of inciting the January 6th insurrection,

01:44mishandling classified documents, falsifying business records, and more.

01:49Well, what should that do when someone defends a president

01:52who is accused of very serious crimes?

01:56It should disqualify them for the bench,

01:59but the opposite occurs in the Trump administration.

02:02His defense of Trump's indefensible actions earned him a top spot at the DOJ,

02:09where he used his power to fire prosecutors who were working on criminal cases

02:14for the January 6th insurrectionists.

02:16That's right.

02:17Mr. Bove helped the rioters who assaulted law enforcement officers on January 6th

02:22get off without any charges.

02:25What is happening to this country?

02:27What is happening?

02:29And if that's not enough to disqualify him,

02:32one whistleblower testified that Mr. Bove repeatedly told DOJ lawyers

02:37to ignore court orders and even deliberately mislead judges.

02:42Mr. Bove encouraged officials not to tell judges the truth,

02:46the same sort of judges he is now nominated to serve alongside.

02:50How can someone who has such disregard for our judges and our courts

02:54be trusted on the bench?

02:56Mr. Bove's nomination previews the dark, ominous plan that Donald Trump and Republicans have for the federal judiciary.

03:03They want to fill our courts with partisan operatives who will protect and serve Donald Trump,

03:09not protect the rule of law.

03:11Experience doesn't matter.

03:13Judicial independence doesn't matter.

03:16Understanding the law and applying it without fear or favor doesn't matter at all.

03:21In fact, there's fear of Donald Trump among so many of the Republican nominees for judge

03:28and of so many of our Republican senators.

03:31For Donald Trump, the only thing that matters when it comes to judges is unyielding fealty to himself.

03:38We have never seen, never, such a disastrous mandate for our federal courts in all of American history.

03:45And if the Republicans proceed, the damage to our judiciary will be irreversible.

03:51Mr. Bove's nomination is an insult to every single qualified independent judge who has ever sat on the federal courts.

03:58He should never have been nominated.

04:00He should never have been reported out of committee.

04:02And he should never, never be confirmed by the Senate to such an important job.

04:07Mr. Bove, that's a great good-looking job.

04:08Mr. Bove.

04:10Mr. Bove.

04:11He should never have been nominated at any of our

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