Source: United States Senator for Kentucky Mitch McConnell
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks today on the Senate floor regarding judicial nominations:
“Just in time for Police Week, Senate Democrats are moving to confirm an anti-police activist to the federal bench.
“Nancy Abudu is the President’s nominee to the 11th Circuit. Her record falls far outside the mainstream.
“Let’s begin with the nominee’s tenure as Director of Strategic Litigation at the Southern Poverty Law Center.
“Half a century ago, the SPLC focused its attention on fighting actual white supremacy. Today, it’s better known for labeling political opponents as hate groups. Here’s how left-wing commentary summed up its so-called ‘Hate Map’ a few years ago. ‘The whole thing is a willful deception designed to scare older liberals into writing checks’.
“Over the years, Ms. Abudu has been happy to join in on the fearmongering. She’s described prohibitions on convicted felons voting as ‘practically the same system as during slavery’.
“She’s said her biggest concern about voter suppression was states passing laws requiring voters to have photo IDs. She’s claimed that the State of Alabama, which boasted the nation’s second highest turnout among black voters in 2018, was trying to ‘establish white supremacy’.
“And one of her employer’s latest bits of legal jeopardy occurred on Ms. Abudu’s watch, in her area of professional responsibility. Several SPLC lawyers are under investigation by a panel of federal judges in Alabama for judge-shopping a case.
“In other words, these activists filed and re-filed their litigation in the hopes of getting a sympathetic judge. Conveniently, Ms. Abudu has claimed that even as Director of Strategic Litigation, she was not involved in directing this particular litigative strategy.
“Nevertheless, the nominee’s affiliations speak for themselves. We’re talking about a former state leader of the National Lawyers Guild, a group that claims, ‘policing is the true threat to our collective safety’…
“And a senior leader at the SPLC, which recently defended a staff attorney after he was charged with domestic terrorism for participating in a violent attack on a police training facility near Atlanta.
“Mr. President, disregard for the rule of law should be immediately disqualifying for anyone seeking a lifetime appointment to the federal bench.
“After a year and half of consideration, I hope our colleagues will recognize that this nominee is unfit for judicial service and reject her nomination.”
###