Josh Hawley Embarrasses 'Democrat Witness' Who Tried To Save 'Killers, Rapists'; She Can't Respond

[0:00] And for everybody who's here, all of the victims, thank you for being here. Thank you for [0:04] standing up and telling your stories. Ms. Boss, thank you for being here and for telling us about [0:10] your daughter. I'm sorry for what all of you have been through. So I want to say thank you and honor [0:13] your voices and honor what you're doing. Ms. Orya, if I could just turn to you. You were President [0:18] Biden's pardon attorney, is that correct? I was the Justice Department's pardon attorney. You [0:23] recommended, you made clemency recommendations to the White House whether or not to pardon [0:27] inmates. Is that correct? Ms. My job was to make clemency recommendations. And in that [0:31] capacity, you recommended that the President of the United States, Joe Biden, grant clemency to all [0:37] 40 federal death row inmates, all of them, clear them out, correct? Ms. Sir, as I told Chairman [0:44] Grassley, I'm not free to discuss the recommendations. Well, that's what your memo says. I mean, we have [0:49] your memo. Your memo of November 4th, 2024 says, and I quote, disparity and undue severity of sentence [0:57] which are present in many, if not all of these cases, have been recognized as grounds for [1:02] clemency. And you went on to recommend in that memo and a series of other memos that are now [1:07] recorded and public record that the President of the United States grant clemency to murderers, [1:12] rapists, and the most horrible offenders, all of them, clear death row completely out. I'm amazed [1:17] you've been called here today. I'm absolutely amazed by it. But let's just talk about the people who you [1:22] recommended, you talk about honoring victims, the people who you recommended get clemency and live [1:27] at the expense and sufferance of taxpayers for the rest of their lives. Let's start with Dylan [1:32] Roof. Dylan was a neo-Nazi who murdered nine African-American worshipers at a Bible study [1:40] in Charleston, South Carolina, 2015. Do you remember this case? I do remember it very well. I would hope [1:46] you did. Here's his victims. You want to look at them? There they are, nine of them, at a Bible study, [1:52] in a church, killed in cold blood. The DOJ knew from day one that he had decided, I'm going to [2:00] quote from the prosecutors, decided to attack African-Americans because of their race. He [2:05] further decided to attack African-American worshipers in a black church in order to make his attack more [2:11] notorious, more notorious. And yet you recommended that he be granted clemency, live at the expense of [2:19] taxpayers for the rest of his life, substitute your judgment for that of the American judicial system. [2:23] Do you stand by that recommendation today? Sir, I'm not going to comment on the recommendations [2:28] that I made, but I can tell you that Mr. Roof is going to die in prison as... Oh, he's going to live [2:33] in prison for a very long time because of you, because of your recommendations. And here's what [2:37] you said in your memo of October 30th, 2024. You said that actually Roof is not a compelling [2:42] candidate for clemency, but you recommended it anyway. Why? Because he suffered from anxiety, [2:47] you said. Right? He suffered from anxiety. Did it ever occur to you that maybe the family of his [2:55] victims might suffer a little bit of anxiety because he marched into their church and murdered [3:00] them in cold blood because he was an incredible racist and he wanted to get on TV? Sir. Do you [3:06] regret it? I'm not going to comment on the recommendations that I made to the president. Let's talk about Robert [3:11] Bowers, a man who regularly spewed such vile hatred of Jews. It's unlike anything I've ever seen. He barged [3:17] into a Pittsburgh synagogue in 2018 and he shot everybody he could find, killing 11 innocent [3:25] people who were there to worship. A federal jury in Pittsburgh unanimously recommended the death [3:31] sentence after finding him guilty on 63 counts. Here they are. They're his victims. Take a good look. [3:40] You recommended clemency for this person who went in and killed these people just because they're Jews. [3:47] He killed the other guy killed people just because they're black. This guy killed people just because [3:53] they're Jews. A jury recommended that he be sentenced to death and you substituted your judgment for [3:57] theirs and now he's going to live. Are you proud of that? Sir, what I am proud of is the fact that I took [4:06] my job as pardon attorney extremely seriously. Apparently not seriously enough. You certainly didn't take the [4:11] victims seriously. Then there's Jorge Avila Torres who wasn't just a murderer. He was a silly serial killer [4:18] and a rapist. Here is who he assaulted and killed. He sexually assaulted and killed eight-year-old Laura [4:26] Hobbs and nine-year-old Crystal Tobias in a Chicago suburb in 2005. And then four years after that he [4:36] committed another murder. He slaughtered a fellow service member, Navy Petty Officer Amanda Snell in 2009 [4:42] while she was in her barracks. That's what he did. And you recommended clemency for this individual and now [4:50] he'll live his life at the expense of taxpayers because you substituted your judgment for that of the American [4:58] judicial system. Jury judges the whole lot. And yet you're here to tell us that you're somehow a victim. I don't think so, [5:05] Ms. Oyer. I think your judgment is astoundingly terrible. I'm amazed that this side of the aisle [5:11] has called you. And I just ask my friends on this side of the aisle, do you agree with this? Is this [5:17] what you want? Do you want these people to be pardoned and live at the expense of taxpayers for [5:23] their whole lives? Do you want to excuse the murders of African-American churchgoers? Do you want [5:27] to excuse the murders of Jews in their synagogues? Do you want to excuse the murders of these children? [5:33] Because that's what she did. And now she's online hawking products to try to make money off of it. [5:38] I see you've got your own website where you put your face on baseball caps and mugs, [5:44] thelawyeroyer.com. You're trying to make money on this? This is unbelievable, Ms. Oyer. And yet you [5:52] say you're a victim? These are the victims. And you helped victimize them. And what you're doing is [5:59] wrong. I hope every member on this side of the aisle will repudiate what you have done, [6:03] and what you stand for. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Sir, I assume that your questions directed at me [6:07] were rhetorical and that you're giving... They're not rhetorical at all. I asked you [6:11] to respond and you said you wouldn't. So what I did is I read to you what you have said. I quoted [6:17] verbatim and I'm happy to keep doing it. In fact, I'd ask now, Mr. Chairman, that this report, [6:22] restoring and strengthening the federal death penalty report, be entered into the record. It contains [6:26] information regarding Ms. Oyer, her recommendations, and the track record of all of it. The written [6:31] records are here. I ask to be entered into the record. It'll be you. Ms. Oyer, take a minute to [6:39] respond if you want to. Thank you, Chairman Grassley. I, under President Biden, [6:47] just like under President Trump, had a job to do, which was to make recommendations to the [6:51] President about how to best accomplish their clemency objectives. I put the utmost effort into [6:58] doing that in a way that was consistent with the interests of the justice system and all of its [7:02] stakeholders, which includes crime victims, as well as defendants, as well as family members, [7:08] as well as judges, as well as prosecutors, all criminal justice system stakeholders. The process [7:16] that I presided over was one that was beyond reproach. What's happening now with clemency is an absolute [7:22] disgrace. And I'm sorry that I can't answer the questions about the specific recommendations in this [7:27] public setting, but I would be glad to meet with any members of this committee who have concerns [7:32] privately to discuss to the extent I can what your concerns are. Privately. Why don't you meet with the [7:36] victims' families? Here's the disgrace. Senator Whitehouse. To come forward, it's not easy to do, [7:42] to relive everything. So thank you for for being here and telling your stories. Ms. Oyer, I want to [7:48] I want to turn to you. You were Biden's part of an attorney, and I want to make sure I'm clear, [7:53] your testimony here today is that you were fired because you wouldn't recommend [7:58] restoring Mel Gibson's gun rights. Is that right? I was fired just hours after I declined to make [8:04] that recommendation. Okay. You can't think of another reason why you might have been fired. [8:07] That's the only explanation that I am aware of. The Justice Department actually put in a pleading that [8:13] was submitted in my appeal of my firing the fact that the facts of my firing are not in dispute. [8:18] Okay. On November, and you talked about, you're concerned about public safety. On November 4th, [8:24] 2024, you authored a 73-page memorandum recommending the commutation of all 40 federal death sentences. [8:31] Isn't that correct? Well, as I've told to members of the committee now. Yeah, I know. I know. But don't [8:35] play the game with me because it's not. They've waived executive privilege. I have the report right [8:41] here. It's dated April 24th, 2026. It's actually your memo is quoted in here. It's public knowledge. [8:50] And the idea that you would come here, you know that already, you would come here and disparage [8:55] somebody else and not be willing to answer questions about how you commuted the sentences [8:59] of murderers is ridiculous. I can't believe that you're here to do that. I don't have the authority [9:04] to commute anyone's sentence. Do you deny it? Do you deny that you authored the memo? I'm not sure which [9:09] memo you're referring to. I'm referring to the November 4th, 2024, 73-page memo. Do you deny [9:16] authoring it? I can't say without having a memo. It's ridiculous. I honestly, I can't believe you [9:20] did. You did and everybody in America and in the world can pull it up. So it's a ridiculous. Do you [9:27] also like a document that has DOJ's logo on the cover? Yeah, and it quotes your letter. [9:32] It quotes your letter. I don't know. You're losing credit. You should just admit it. [9:36] You should just admit you authored it. Everybody knows you authored it. So I'm not going to waste any [9:39] more time on your convenient little game you're playing here. You also authored and recommended the [9:46] commutation of the Boston Marathon bomber, the Tree of Life synagogue murderer, and Dylann Roof. [9:51] We all know this. How many pages of the 73 pages did you dedicate to victims? Because you expressed [9:57] your concern over victims. How many pages were dedicated to the victims? Sir, I don't have the [10:02] memo that you're referring to in front of me. I can tell you three. Three pages. Three pages were [10:07] dedicated to the victims. So I also happen to have, I made a special access request last year under the [10:15] Presidential Records Act for documents from the Biden White House on the abuse of pardons and [10:20] commutations. We recently got those documents. I want to show you a couple. Here's one. It's dated [10:25] December 3rd, 2024, and it's an internal memo on the commutation of the 37 death sentences that [10:32] you were involved with. The memorandum states that the White House worked with reporters to, quote, [10:36] ensure positive coverage. It says the White House gave advocates, the elected officials, [10:42] resources, and key messaging to amplify the news. You personally recommended commuting all 40 death [10:49] sentence cases and even broader action than Biden took. Again, that included Dylann Roof, the Boston [10:56] Marathon bomber, the Tree of Life synagogue shooter. Did you know that the White House was using your [11:01] recommendations as a PR stunt? Sir, I have no idea what document you're referring to currently. Well, let me [11:08] just ask you in general. Did you know that they were planning to message around your commutation? Sir, I [11:13] was not an employee of the White House. Okay, I'll take that as a no. I'll take that as a no, but they used [11:18] your ridiculous recommendation as a veneer of legitimacy. Document two. I was called here to talk [11:25] about Mr. Blanche's nomination. Yeah, I know that's what you thought you came here to talk about, but the [11:30] reality is your credibility is gone. You can't come here and do the political bidding of the Biden [11:37] administration, and then when you're called out on that and being fired, and thank God you're being [11:43] fired. You know what I really think? I think you thought you came here and you had, you're selling [11:48] merch, by the way. Do we have the hoodies that are up for sale? You sell merch. Let's throw the hoodies. [11:53] I think you came here thinking that you were going to be ordained the high priestess of the resistance. [12:01] That's what I think. That's why you're denying simple facts that you authored the memo commuting [12:06] the sentences. Everyone knows that, and we have documents now from the White House that they use [12:12] that memo as a PR stunt. And so the idea, you have no credibility to talk about Todd Blanche. You have none. [12:20] You've come here. You deny basic facts. You recommended the commutation of murderers. You gave [12:26] no quarter at all or any time to the victims of these brutal murders. So again, I can't believe [12:34] you've been called here by the other side, but I'm glad we've had an opportunity to expose your hypocrisy.