At Wednesday's Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) slammed the actions of President Trump's DOJ since he took office.
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00:00Congratulations to the nominees and their families.
00:03Before we hear from the nominees, I want to say a few words about President Trump's administration of the Justice Department and the Federal Judiciary during his first 100 days in office.
00:14Immediately after President Trump returned to the Oval Office, the Justice Department began reallocating its resources away from critical national security and public safety efforts toward the President's mass deportation agenda.
00:32Trump appointees have fired dozens of career law enforcement officials with hundreds of years of experience protecting our country.
00:41These actions have destabilized the Justice Department and made our country less safe.
00:47Career prosecutors and law enforcement agents, including those in the DEA and the Marshal Service, have been diverted from their mission and conscripted into immigration enforcement.
01:01Today, we'll hear from the nominee to be the Director of Marshal Service.
01:04I hope I need your help to pronounce your name correctly.
01:07I'm deeply concerned by what's happening at the agency which you hope to lead, the Marshal Service.
01:22Beyond redirecting marshals from their mission, which includes providing judicial security and executing court orders,
01:30the Marshal Service has reportedly deputized members of unelected co-president Elon Musk's private security detail.
01:40As a result, these private security guards have some of the same rights and protections of law enforcement agents,
01:47which typically includes the ability to make arrests and carry weapons on federal grounds.
01:53Equally disturbing are recent reports that at the request of DOGE, the acting director of the Marshal Service is actually downsizing the agency.
02:04In a time when threats toward judges are rising, it is baffling that more than 5,000 employees of the Marshal Service receive letters asking them to consider resigning.
02:165,000.
02:17Judges appointed by Republicans and Democrats, including those appointed by President Trump,
02:22have expressed fear that this administration will withdraw this protection, critical, life-saving protection from judges and their families.
02:32Two decades ago, the mother and husband of federal judge Joan Lefkoe, a federal judge from my home state of Illinois,
02:41were tragically murdered by a disgruntled litigant.
02:45We have tried ever since, on a bipartisan basis, to put more resources into the protection of our judges,
02:52and we need it now more than ever.
02:55Just a few years ago, New Jersey District Judge Esther Salas, targeted by a disturbed individual,
03:02who came and shot and murdered her husband and her only child.
03:06In the past few months, this administration and its supporters have repeatedly attacked individual federal judges by name,
03:16simply because they had the audacity to rule against President Trump.
03:20The rhetoric puts the lives of judges and their families in danger.
03:24Recall when there was a demonstration in front of the home of Justice Kavanaugh.
03:29Now, this committee, I believe, made it clear we condemned any attempt at violence or anything near it,
03:37whether it came from the right or the left, Republican or Democrat.
03:41Now, consider this.
03:43Recently, hundreds, hundreds of pizzas have been delivered to the homes of judges and their families,
03:51including at least 10 sent in the name of Daniel Anderle, the murdered son of Judge Salas.
03:59Subtle, right?
04:01Many of these judges who have received pizzas are presiding over legal challenges to Trump administration actions.
04:07Hundreds of pizzas to the homes of these judges.
04:11As Judge Salas noted, the goal is to signal, quote,
04:13I know where you live, I know where your kids live, and do you want to end up like Judge Salas?
04:20Do you want to end up like her son?
04:23Subtle.
04:25Mr. Seralta must commit, if he's going to get my support, to be confirmed.
04:29He will not withdraw or reduce judicial security, period.
04:33We will also hear from Terrence Cole, nominated to lead the DEA,
04:38whose mission is, quote, combating criminal drug networks, bringing harm, violence, overdoses, and poisoning to the United States.
04:47It's surprising the administration is shunting the expertise of DEA agents away from this critical mission to go after immigration enforcement.
04:57This is not the only attempt to gut the DEA.
05:00Late last month, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche issued a memo proposing to combine the DEA and ATF.
05:07How would a smaller workforce and a smaller budget help effectuate the mission, the critical, life-saving missions of these two agencies?
05:17This administration may claim this proposal is to make government more efficient, but it will only make America less safe.
05:26I look forward to hearing from Mr. Cole on whether he supports these gutting changes to the agency he would like to lead.
05:32These first hundred days of this administration have thrown America into chaos.
05:38While President Trump and Elon Musk are intent on dismantling the Justice Department, Americans are feeling the consequences.
05:44I look forward to hearing from us.
05:45I look forward to hearing from these practices.
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