(Mark Pellin, Headline USA) The first round of Ketanji Brown Jackson’s confirmation hearing for a seat on the Supreme Court was absent any explosive moments, but boiled at a steady simmer with questions about her judicial record and past opinions and rulings.
“The position to which you’ve been nominated is extraordinarily important,” said Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, during his remarks Monday.
Cruz ripped into Democrats and leftists who have turned confirmation hearings into primeval blood sport, while vowing not to take Jackson’s hearing down that same road, but demanding answers to legitimate concerns.
Highlighting the disgraceful and demeaning treatment that judges from Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett to Clarence Thomas and Robert Bork received at the hands of Democrats spurred by Joe Biden as lead henchman, Cruz told Jackson that her “hearing will feature none of that disgraceful behavior.”
“No one is going to inquire into your teenage dating habits,” Cruz said. “No one is going to ask you with mock severity, ‘Do you like beer?”
“This will not be a political circus,” he said. “This will not be the kind of character smear that, sadly, our Democratic colleagues have gotten very good at.”
Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., followed a similar tact.
While acknowledging that he appreciated how “candid and forthcoming” Jackson was during their prior meeting, Hawley again raised the concerns he had over Jackson’s soft-on-porn rulings.
MUST WATCH: Senator @HawleyMO runs through seven cases where Ketanji Brown Jackson was lenient on pedophiles, giving them sentences that were far below the federal guidelines. pic.twitter.com/9msrXDkJ9Z
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) March 21, 2022
“Some have asked why did I raise these questions ahead of the hearing, why not wait until the hearing, and spring them on Judge Jackson?” Hawley said during Monday’s hearing.
“My answer to that is very simple,” he said. “I’m not interested in trapping Judge Jackson. I’m not interested in trying to play got-ya.
“I’m interested in her answers,” Jackson said.
Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., had her own questions and concerns, like Jackson’s leniency on criminals and penchant for setting convicts free.
“At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic you advocated, and again I quote, ‘for each and every criminal defendant in the D.C. Department of Correction’s custody should be released,’” Blackburn said in dismay.
Senator @VoteMarsha highlights Ketanji Brown Jackson’s leniency on “hardened criminals,” terrorists, and pedophiles.
“The American people deserve a Supreme Court justice with a documented commitment to the text of the Constitution and the rule of law.” pic.twitter.com/WqPdlvG6JW
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) March 21, 2022
Lawmakers expressed a whole spectrum of concerns and questions about Jackson’s history, and they’ll have the rest of the hearing to get answers, or at least try.
WATCH: Senator @JohnCornyn to Ketanji Brown Jackson: I am “troubled” how your “advocacy has bled over into your decision-making process” pic.twitter.com/l47GhuRaVv
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) March 21, 2022
Sen. Lindsey Graham: “Shouldn’t be hard” for Ketanji Brown Jackson to answer if she supports court-packing.
“Either you do or you don’t.” pic.twitter.com/n4uhOh0puc
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) March 21, 2022
