'Terrible Liberal Activist Judge': Eric Schmitt Calls For Judge James Boasberg To Be Disciplined

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At a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing prior to the Congressional recess, Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-MO) slammed Judge James Boasberg.

Transcript

00:00I'm the chairman now.

00:05We've got a new sheriff, and I'm going to call on Senator Schmidt.

00:09But before I do, Mr. Tung, I'm going to give you another chance.

00:14I want you to think real hard.

00:17I looked at your record.

00:19I think you're a good man.

00:22You don't think any—do you think—you really don't think that somebody's evil

00:28just because of their party they're in in America, do you?

00:32I don't think that, Senator.

00:33Oh, God bless. Thank you, sir.

00:35That's the answer I was looking for, and I don't understand why you wouldn't answer me,

00:38maybe because I'm a Democrat.

00:40But, dear God, that's the easiest question I've heard asked today.

00:43And thank you, Chairman Kennedy, for eliciting what is a response we should get

00:47from any American who's up for a federal position.

00:50I don't think Senator Booker was trying to trick you.

00:53You don't think Republicans are evil, do you?

00:55I do not.

00:56And you don't think independents are evil, do you?

00:59No, Senator.

01:00And you don't think Democrats are evil, do you?

01:02Senator, I do not.

01:03Good.

01:05Senator Schmidt.

01:07Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

01:08I also want to—I appreciate even that you answered the question.

01:11I appreciate your restraint on that.

01:12I wish more judges would show that kind of restraint in weighing into political questions

01:15like Judge Boasberg.

01:17Judge Boasberg, before he had any of these cases that he's wrongly decided

01:21and been slapped on by the Supreme Court, opined that President Trump wouldn't abide by court

01:26orders, which is not true.

01:27And I'm glad the Department of Justice has referred Judge Boasberg for disciplinary action.

01:33Because judges have no role in weighing in on political questions or making political statements.

01:37That's not their job.

01:38And I would argue that the more they do that, it debases the respect that the American people

01:43will have for our courts if they view them as politicians.

01:46So I appreciate the sentiment.

01:48I'm glad we don't think everybody's evil.

01:50But I appreciate the restraint that you're trying to exhibit in this hearing.

01:54And I wish, again, Judge Boasberg would have exhibited that restraint.

01:57Because not only is he a terrible liberal activist judge, he's also lost the respect and should

02:02be disciplined.

02:03I'm glad the DOJ has moved forward with that.

02:05I want to just take a moment to talk about, and by the way, the Article 3 project, I just

02:10want to say something, is doing a very important job of hitting back against a lot of the smears

02:16that have come judges' ways just because they happen to be appointed by President Trump.

02:20I mean, Judge Boasberg is the most recent example.

02:22So I appreciate their advocacy.

02:23I want to talk a minute about dissents.

02:28We can talk about, in the Dred Scott case, Judge Curtis's dissent that became the rallying

02:32cry for the abolitionist movement.

02:35In Plessy v. Ferguson, Justice Marshall, Harlan dissented and laid the groundwork for Brown v.

02:40Board of Education.

02:41And in Roe v. Wade, Justice Rehnquist warned against the Supreme Court unilaterally inventing

02:47rights that lacked historical or constitutional grounding as a fundamental right.

02:51In lower courts, you had now Justice Alito's dissent and the Casey decision, which gave the

02:58pro-life movement, I think, a lot of hope for the days ahead.

03:02I could go on and on.

03:03And I bring this up because, for both of you, it's going to play a very important role in

03:10the job that you have in front of you.

03:12The Ninth Circuit is historically the most overturned circuit at the Supreme Court in recent decades.

03:18In the past two years, the First Circuit, which has zero Republican-appointed judge, has been

03:24reversed in 100% of the cases the Supreme Court has taken up on the merits.

03:30We need judges who are willing to stand up on principle.

03:34There's a lot of heat coming your way.

03:36There's a lot of vitriol that will come your way.

03:41But beyond just the judicial philosophy that I think is really important, it is the courage

03:46that it's going to take in many ways to stand on a judicial island in many ways on the First

03:54Circuit, on the Ninth Circuit, in the places where there just aren't a lot of conservative

03:59judges that have been appointed by Republicans.

04:01And so, I think in many ways, this will be the real test for a lot of the judges that

04:06come before this committee.

04:07It's not necessarily, I mean, obviously, originalism and textualism, those are very, very important

04:12creeds that I certainly subscribe to.

04:17But you really need people who, when they're in the arena, are going to do the right thing.

04:21And maybe, just maybe, articulate an argument that will be upheld at some point somewhere

04:27else.

04:27So, Mr. Dunlap, I wanted to ask you, if you confirmed, you'll be the only Republican-appointed

04:33judge on the First Circuit.

04:34As I mentioned, it's been reversed 100% of the time by the Supreme Court.

04:40And there's only four active district court judges in the First Circuit appointed by Republicans.

04:46And the Supreme Court's already had to clean up some messes that the First Circuit has created.

04:51How do you view your future role as a judge in the First Circuit in writing even dissential

04:58opinions, not only just dissents, given the likelihood you're going to find yourself on

05:04an island?

05:06Well, Senator Maynard's are famously independent.

05:10I suspect that characterizes me as well.

05:13I believe that it is important to work collegially with one's colleagues to reach the best decision

05:23possible.

05:24I think it is also important that when there is a disagreement, that a judge be willing to

05:31write independently, to write a dissent if necessary.

05:35I believe that dissents and concurrences can help further the dialogue within the court,

05:43can highlight important issues for consideration in the future.

05:48And yes, in certain circumstances, it may call attention to an issue that may warrant review

05:54by the Supreme Court.

05:56So in all of my efforts, should I be confirmed, I would seek to work both collegially and independently

06:03on the court.

06:04Mr. Tung, how do you view that as well?

06:06Senator, judges take an oath to uphold the Constitution, and if that means requiring writing

06:11a dissent, I will do that, if I were confirmed on the Ninth Circuit.

06:15Justices Scalia and Gorsuch wrote numerous dissents, and I hope to follow in their stead where

06:22necessary.

06:23Thank you, Mr. Tung.

06:25Senator Coons.

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