Sen. Whitehouse Warns Republicans Not to Fast-Track Blanche Confirmation Amid Snowballing Scandals

[0:00] Thanks very much, Mr. Chairman. [0:03] I'd like to take the time that we have here [0:06] to raise an unrelated issue. [0:10] You can relax. [0:13] Thank you. [0:18] We, as a committee, considered the nomination [0:25] of an individual named Emil Bovey [0:28] to go on to the Third Circuit Court of Appeals. [0:35] At the time that we did so, there [0:38] was a pending proceeding in federal court, [0:44] an inquiry into whether Mr. Bovey and others [0:50] had committed contempt of court. [0:55] That proceeding was stayed by an order by two Trump appointees [1:09] on the DC Circuit. [1:11] They used a device called an administrative stay, [1:15] which I think lawyers know customarily [1:18] as a device to hold the status quo for a short period of time, [1:25] maybe a week or two, sometimes only hours. [1:31] The two Trump appointees kept this administrative stay [1:36] in place for four months. [1:39] And it was during that period of the staid contempt proceeding [1:45] involving now Judge Bovey that this committee put him [1:52] through his confirmation and sent him to the floor. [1:57] I think in ordinary circumstances, we would have said, [2:01] wait a minute, there's a contempt proceeding pending [2:06] against this individual. [2:07] We should find out about that before we put him [2:10] on a circuit court of appeals. [2:13] But these are not ordinary times. [2:16] And so Mr. Bovey was hustled through the confirmation [2:20] process. [2:22] And then the stay was lifted. [2:28] The DC Circuit told the DC district judge, [2:34] you can now go forward with a contempt proceeding. [2:37] One of the same Trump judges with another Trump judge then [2:40] stayed at a second time. [2:43] And the DC Circuit has just announced [2:46] that it will consider overturning that stay and bank. [2:51] So that saga is going to continue. [2:54] But I don't think it was a high point [2:57] in the Judiciary Committee's history [3:00] to put a candidate through the confirmation process [3:04] with a contempt of court inquiry undecided. [3:11] Now we're moving forward into Todd Blanche [3:17] and his potential confirmation as attorney general of the United [3:19] States. [3:21] Well, right now, there is a judicial proceeding [3:26] pending in Florida regarding whether Blanche [3:32] and other Confederates committed fraud upon the court [3:38] in that federal district court. [3:41] Just as a brief aside, fraud upon the court [3:44] is about as bad as it gets for a legal officer. [3:48] You can be sanctioned and disciplined for misconduct, [3:52] for acting out in court, various things. [3:55] You can go to being held in contempt of court, which [3:57] is pretty darned serious. [4:00] But fraud on the court stands apart as an allegation. [4:05] My view is that this is the first time that the Department of Justice, certainly any senior officials [4:11] in the Department of Justice, have ever been accused of committing fraud on a federal court. [4:16] And that matter is pending down in Florida. [4:21] Interestingly, the Department of Justice chose not to respond to the court when the court said, yeah, I'm going to reopen this matter and let's take a look at this. [4:32] Fraud on the court for the first time in the department's history. [4:36] You'd think they'd want to respond to that specific question about whether the actions of the DOJ comported with its own policies, something DOJ would know about. [4:47] And then what about a defense memo offered by the client, the Internal Revenue Service? [4:54] Again, something the DOJ would know about. [4:56] And the gravamen of the issue was collusion, which takes two people on both sides of the case. [5:02] So only the lawyers for Trump, his personal lawyers, answered. [5:06] Despite all of those apparent invitations from the judge, the DOJ didn't answer. [5:12] So we have no sense yet of what's going on. [5:15] Looks like Judge Williams is going to continue that investigation. [5:20] But I just think, bad as it was, to confirm a nominee to a circuit court of appeals while a contemptive court inquiry was pending against that exact individual, [5:32] it would be just as bad, if not worse, to go forward with Blanche's confirmation while a fraud on the court inquiry is pending against him. [5:45] We have asked for documents related to that first episode. [5:50] And I am asking again because we don't get a response out of the Department of Justice when we ask for documents. [5:58] And I hope that we can look into this adequately to be prepared for questioning when we end up going forward. [6:06] But we're in a pretty terrific position to require answers from the Department of Justice by simply saying, look, we're not going forward until we understand what the heck happened here. [6:14] And if you're not answering to a federal court, well, you ought to consider answering to us as we deal with your confirmation proceedings. [6:23] So I've gone a minute over my time. [6:25] And it's not, again, not relevant to the candidate before us. [6:28] But I did want to have a chance to make this point publicly because we're going to have to address this. [6:34] And now would be a good time. [6:36] Thank you very much, Chairman. [6:37] Thank you. [6:38] Thank you.