John Cornyn Plays Past Video Of Biden And Clarence Thomas. Joe Biden A Career Politician

Senator Corin like to go to the video please committee will please come to order judge it's tough day and tough night for you I know let me uh ask do you have anything you'd like to say before we begin I understand that uh your preference is uh which is totally in completely understandable that we go 1 hour tonight 30 minutes on each side is am I correct in that that's right do you have anything you'd like to say senator I would like to start by saying unequivocally uncategorically that I deny each and every single allegation against me today that suggested in any way that I had conversations of a sexual nature or about pornographic material with Anita Hill that I ever attempted to date her that I ever had any personal sexual interest in her or that I in any way ever harassed her a second and I think more important point I think that this today is a travesty I think that it is disgusting I think that this hearing should never occur in America this is a case in which this SAS this dirt was searched for by staffers of members of this committee was then leaked to the media and this committee and this body validated it and displayed it at Prime Time over our entire nation how would any member on this committee any person in this room or any person in this country would like sleev said about him or her in this fashion or this dirt dredged up and this gossip and these lies displayed in this manner how would any person like it the Supreme Court is not worth it no job is worth it I'm not here for that I'm here for my name my family my life and my Integrity I think something is dreadfully wrong with this country when any person any person in this free country would be subjected to this this is not a closed room there was an FBI investigation this is not an opportunity to talk about difficult matters privately or in a closed environment this is a circus it's a National Disgrace and from my standpoint as a black American as far as I'm concerned it is a Hightech lynching Senator has 32 years ago and um I'm reminded as I get older that not everybody's had the same experience or memories that I have that was one of the Searing memories memor memories that I've had about Supreme Court confirmation hearings and I think provides an important context for today's hearing the truth is that as Senator Kennedy said St ing perhaps with Senator with the with the bour nomination that members of the United States Supreme Court when they've been nominated for the job have been subjected to Relentless campaigns of harassment and intimidation which as Justice Alito recently pointed out can lead not just to uh intemperate attacks like the Senate Majority Leader made against Senator Gorsuch and Senator excuse me judge Gorsuch and judge Kavanaugh by name back in 2020 it could lead unstable individuals to decide that they are going to conduct an assassination of these members of the Supreme Court so things have gotten terribly out of hand judge McKey um you and Mr dpri both talked about the separation of powers I looked back at the rules of the United States Senate our ethics Rules by which we are governed and um they are rules that are set by the Senate itself how do you think the Senate would react if the United States Supreme Court said we don't like the ethics code of senators or members of the House of Representatives with the same principle of separation of powers and co-equal branches of government appli in that circumstance yes of course it would Senator the the this body sets the rules for uh its conduct uh and the same way that the court sets the rules for its conduct and the executive uh in the person of the president and the vice president set the rules for theirs um that's not to say that laws of General application don't apply of course they apply um but when you're talking about the particular rules relating to a particular branch of government those are set by that branch of government Mr Dupri I agree with judge mcy and I would add senator in a response to your question about the importance of the separation of powers I think it's important to underscore that the separation of powers is not some sort of academic concept that was invented by law professors this is a concept that is structurally B into our Constitution and the framers viewed as absolutely crucial to preserving not just the independence of each branch and ensuring that the Judiciary could act independently but also to preserve freedom and individual liberty and so the the things we're discussing today obviously have you know practical consequence in terms of granular information about data and disclosure and the like but at the end of the day what's really on the table is a concept that is absolutely fundamental to our constitutional structure and must be preserved I think uh Justice Galia pointed out among others senator's time has expired minutes ago Senator Lee