Alex Padilla Mocks Jeanine Pirro's Qualifications To Be U.S. Attorney

Forbes Breaking News

During a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Wednesday, Sen. Alex Padilla (D-CA) spoke about President Trump's nominee to be US attorney for the District of Columbia.

Transcript

00:00And then Senator Schiff.

00:02Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

00:03Colleagues, the United States Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia

00:07is the largest U.S. Attorney's Office in the country.

00:11It has over 330 attorneys and 350 staff.

00:15The U.S. Attorney is responsible for thousands of criminal cases

00:19and thousands of civil cases, often extremely complicated ones.

00:24And who is before us for consideration to put in this position

00:29of overseeing the largest federal law enforcement office in the country,

00:33a television personality who hasn't litigated in more than 20 years,

00:39an attorney who has not admitted to the D.C. Bar

00:41and who before becoming interim U.S. Attorney

00:45had not practiced in federal court, in the District of Columbia, or elsewhere.

00:51These are serious law enforcement jobs.

00:54They're not patronage positioned to be handed out to the president's unqualified friends

00:58and allies as a thank you for their loyalty.

01:02But it seems to be how this is being treated.

01:06Her lack of relevant experience doesn't even touch on Ms. Pirro's

01:09outrageously disqualifying past statements.

01:12And some of my colleagues have already hit on a lot of these,

01:16but I'll highlight just a few.

01:18She referred to the January 6 rioters who had been convicted as hostages

01:23and called for investigations into the January 6 prosecutors.

01:28As ranking member of the Rules Committee, I also have concerns about her work

01:31on the ongoing January 6 litigation.

01:34I remind my colleagues here that her predecessor, Ed Martin,

01:38argued that the federal government should refund restitution payments

01:42made by some of the convicted January 6 rioters.

01:47These refunds come straight from the money given to the architect of the Capitol

01:51for the nearly $3 million in damage that the insurrection has caused.

01:56She has publicly attacked members of this committee, by name, on multiple occasions,

02:03including calling one a, quote, demon rat.

02:06She's also attacked Republicans who dare speak out against Donald Trump.

02:10She has advocated for the arrest of FBI and DOJ investigators that she didn't agree with,

02:17saying that they should, quote, not just be fired, but taken out in handcuffs.

02:25She's been taken off the air by her own network for refusing to stop peddling lies about the 2020 election

02:33and for repeatedly making racist, Islamophobic comments, including about sitting members of Congress.

02:42Her personal involvement in Fox News' 2020 election coverage resulted in a $787.5 million settlement

02:50for defamation of Dominion voting systems as she lied about the security of our election systems.

02:57And after everything I have just described, which is just the tip of the iceberg,

03:03of Ms. Pirro's record, I can't believe we're actually having a vote on the nomination.

03:10She may be long on Fox News, but she does not be long in a federal law enforcement role.

03:17Senator Schiff and then Senator Blumenthal.

03:21Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

03:22We don't want the shame and skin.

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