Ted Cruz calls Dems' treatment of past GOP nominees 'explicitly racial' in thunderous opening statement during Ketanji Brown Jackson hearing



In a fiery opening statement at Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson's Supreme Court confirmation hearing, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) raked Democrats over the coals for their "explicitly racial" treatment of Republican judicial nominees.

"If you are Hispanic or African-American, and you dare depart from their political orthodoxy, they will crush you, they will attack you, they will slander you, they will filibuster you," Cruz told Jackson, who, if confirmed, would be the first black woman to sit on the U.S. Supreme Court.

Like several of his colleagues, Cruz pledged that Republicans would not turn the process into a "political circus," making pointed comments about how, "this will not be the kind of character smear that sadly our Democratic colleagues have gotten very good at."

He then dove into the history of the Senate Democrats and their character smears.

WATCH: Sen. Cruz’s opening statement in Jackson Supreme Court confirmation hearings www.youtube.com

"It is only one side of the aisle, the Democratic aisle, that went so into the gutter with Judge Robert Bork that they invented a new verb — to 'Bork' someone," Cruz said. He went on to attack the "reprehensible" treatment of Justice Clarence Thomas, quoting from a letter former President George H.W. Bush wrote describing the Democrats' treatment of Thomas as "just plain horrible ... They are trying to destroy a decent man."

"As Justice Thomas observed in that hearing, what happened there was, to use his words, a high-tech lynching. And I would note the chairman who presided over that disgrace was Joe Biden," Cruz said.

He called the confirmation hearing for Justice Brett Kavanaugh "one of the lowest moments in the history of this committee." He recounted how "Democrats on this committee sat on allegations, didn't refer them to the FBI, didn't ask for investigations, hid them and then leaked them. Against the wishes of the complainant." Then he mocked Democrats for having "Spartacus moments" and for featuring the testimony of "nuts" like Michael Avenatti, a former attorney and convicted fraudster.

"Judge Jackson, I can assure you that your hearing will feature none of that disgraceful behavior," Cruz said. "No one is going to inquire into your teenage dating habits. No one is going to ask you with mock severity, 'Do you like beer?'"

Cruz went on to say the Judiciary Committee has a "responsibility to focus on issues, to focus on your record, to focus on substance."

"It's not about race," Cruz added. "We will see Democrats and the media suggest that any senator that is skeptical of your nomination, that questions you vigorously, or that dares to vote against you must somehow harbor racial animus."

"I would note we are sitting on a committee where multiple members ... happily filibustered Judge Janice Rogers Brown, a very qualified African American woman nominated to the [United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit], precisely because they wanted to prevent Judge Brown from becoming Justice Brown," he continued.

Among those senators was then-Sen. Joe Biden, who worked with other Democrats to hold up Brown's nomination to the D.C. Circuit Court in 2003. A Democratic filibuster prevented Brown from being confirmed to the court for two years.

"The senior Democrats on this committee also filibustered Miguel Estrada, as the staff for [then-]Sen. Ted Kennedy [(D-Mass.)] said in writing at the time ... 'because he is Hispanic,'" Cruz said.

The Texas senator may have misspoken; it was an aide to Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) who wrote in an email that liberal activists had “identified Miguel Estrada (D.C. Circuit) as especially dangerous, because he has a minimal paper trail, he is Latino, and the White House seems to be grooming him for a Supreme Court appointment," according to a 2013 article in the Washington Examiner.

Cruz said that Jackson would be judged based on her record, and whether she would expand freedom as a judge or restrict freedom.

Lindsey Graham reminds Democrats of their hypocrisy on minority nominees during Ketanji Brown Jackson hearing



South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham (R) on Monday said that accusations of racism won't deter Republicans from asking Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson hard questions, reminding Democrats of their hypocrisy when it comes to minority nominees.

Graham promised that the Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearings for President Joe Biden's Supreme Court nominee "won't be a circus," unlike the confirmation hearings for Justices Brett Kavanaugh, Amy Coney Barrett, and other qualified conservative judicial nominees.

Republicans are still bitter about how Democrats acted during those hearings, as was evident from their comments during opening statements. Graham made a point to remind Democrats how they've mistreated Republican nominees before, including minorities, and said that Jackson, who if confirmed would be the first black woman to serve on the Supreme Court, will not face similar treatment.

He said, for instance, that the hearing was already "off to a good start," since the proceedings were courteous, unlike the 2018 Kavanaugh hearing, when "Chairman Grassley couldn't get the first word out of his mouth before they shut down the place." Graham was referring to how then-Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) repeatedly interrupted Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) during his opening remarks, infuriating Republicans.

"Most of us couldn't go back to our offices during Kavanaugh without getting spit on," Graham said. "Hope that doesn't happen to y'all. I don't think it will."

Anticipating that the left will accuse Republicans opposed to Jackson's nomination of being racist, Graham said that before he gets "lectured" by Democrats, "I remember Janice Rodgers Brown, an African-American woman, that was filibustered by the same people praising [Jackson]."

"I remember Miguel Estrada, one of the finest people I ever met, completely wiped out," Graham said.

Estrada, a Honduran-American, was nominated by President George W. Bush to serve on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Though he had majority support in the Senate, Democrats filibustered his nomination in 2002, preventing him from receiving a confirmation vote. Brown was a 2003 Bush nominee for the same court, but then-Sen. Joe Biden (D-Del.) and other Democrats filibustered her nomination, though she was later confirmed in 2005.

"If you're a Hispanic or African-American conservative, it's about your philosophy. Now it's gonna be about the historic nature of the pick," he continued. Rejecting that framing, he told Jackson she will face "hard questions" about her judicial philosophy and accusations that Republicans are being "racist" are "not going to fly with us."

"We're used to it by now," Graham said.

.@LindseyGrahamSC at Ketanji Brown Jackson confirmation hearing:\n\n"I remember Janice Rodgers Brown, an African-American woman, that was filibustered by the same people praising you.\u201dpic.twitter.com/8gq3AFmWH8
— TheBlaze (@TheBlaze) 1647879300

Among those hard questions will be why "people on the left, the far extreme part of the left, believe you were the best bet," Graham told Jackson. He brought up how the left-leaning dark money group Arabella Advisors ran ads campaigning for Jackson over Michelle Childs, a federal judge in South Carolina who was also considered by Biden for the Supreme Court nomination.

"The attacks from the left against Judge Childs was really pretty vicious, to be honest with you. So you say, Judge Jackson, you don't have any judicial philosophy per se. Well, somebody on the left believes you do, or they wouldn't have spent the money they spent to have you in this chair."

Graham also said that Republicans will ask about her sentencing practices as a district court judge, her legal views, and the far-left groups that support her nomination.

But in contrast to Democrats during the Kavanaugh hearing, there will be tactics Republicans won't use. "You will not be vilified. You will not be attacked for your religious views. You will not be accused of something that you could not defend yourself against until it was too late," Graham said.

Sen. @LindseyGrahamSC to Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson: "You will not be vilified. You will not be attacked for your religious views. You will not be accused of something that you could not defend yourself against until it was too late." #SCOTUSpic.twitter.com/h04r8rhEva
— CSPAN (@CSPAN) 1647878958

Reports: Biden to nominate Ketanji Brown Jackson to Supreme Court



Reports indicate that President Joe Biden will nominate Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court, fulfilling a campaign promise to select the first black woman to sit on the high court.

Jackson, 51, currently sits on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. As a former clerk for retiring Justice Stephen Breyer, Jackson was widely considered to be a front-runner for the nomination.

CNN reported that Biden called her Thursday night to offer the nomination and she accepted.

The president is expected to make a public announcement about the nomination Friday.

Jackson, a native of Washington, D.C., has experience as a public defender and member of the U.S. Sentencing Commission, as well as a nearly nine-year tenure as a federal judge. She served on the federal district court in D.C. as an appointee of President Barack Obama before Biden nominated her for the D.C. Circuit last year.

There is some expectation that Jackson will face a smooth path to confirmation in the U.S. Senate. Her confirmation to the D.C. Circuit last year was supported by three Republican senators, Susan Collins of Maine, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska. Additionally, she is a relative by marriage of former House Speaker Paul Ryan, who ran for vice president on the 2012 Republican ticket.

Jackson's confirmation to the Supreme Court would not change the makeup of the court, where six Republican-appointed justices hold a majority over the three Democratic appointees.

During the confirmation process, Jackson's record will face scrutiny, including several high-profile rulings that were later overturned by higher courts.

"Judge Jackson's record of reversals by the left-leaning D.C. Circuit is troubling for anyone concerned about the rule of law," Judicial Crisis Network president Carrie Severino told Fox News Digital earlier this month. "For example, in Make the Road New York v. Wolf, a D.C. Circuit panel composed of a majority of Democratic nominees concluded that Jackson had set aside a Trump administration rule where there was no legal basis to do so."

"Cases like these suggest that Jackson might be willing in politically charged cases to ignore the law to deliver a particular policy outcome, and that's not what we want to see from a Supreme Court justice," she said.

Other overturned rulings by Jackson include a 2019 case centered on an order that expanded the Department of Homeland Security's definition of which non-citizens could be deported. A 2-1 decision by the D.C. Circuit Court said that reviewing DHS policy did not fall under the Administrative Procedure Act, overturning Jackson's opinion.

Another case involving three orders on the collective bargaining power for federal employees was overturned unanimously by the D.C. Circuit Court, which ruled Jackson did not have jurisdiction to adjudicate the case.

Senate Republicans previously brought up these overturned cases and others during her confirmation to the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia last year.