‘Disqualifying’ deflections from Trump’s judicial nominees alarm expert: ‘So dangerous’
Several of President Donald Trump's recent judicial nominees have displayed a "disqualifying" pattern of behavior that has alarmed a legal expert.
In hearing after hearing, Democrats have asked Trump's judicial nominees: Who won the 2020 general election? Yet several nominees have refused to explicitly say that former President Joe Biden won the election, and have instead deflected, according to Andrew Weissmann, a former federal prosecutor.
Weissmann said on a new episode of the "Court of History" podcast on Wednesday that the nominees' refusal to say Biden won the election should be "disqualifying" at least.
"There is no credible evidence," Weissmann said. "There's right-wing conspiracy talk, but there is no credible evidence of any material fraud in the 2020 election. And that to me would have been a perfectly legitimate thing to say."
Trump has routinely claimed that the election was rigged against him, even though his lawyers failed to prove that in more than 60 court cases, and some of whom have been disbarred for their involvement in Trump's efforts to overturn the results.
Weissmann noted that the nominees who refuse to acknowledge that there was no material evidence of fraud in the 2020 general election pose a significant danger to the American judiciary going forward.
"This is so dangerous that you have people who have lifetime appointments, if they are confirmed, who are going to be operating if they're consistent with how they're behaving in their confirmation hearing, as they will be on the bench. That is corrupting one of the few checks and balances that are still functioning in this country right now."
‘It’s a disaster’: Republicans sound alarm as Texas race rips open financial hole
The Texas Senate race has officially been set, between notoriously scandal-plagued state Attorney General Ken Paxton on the Republican side and Presbyterian minister and state legislator James Talarico on the Democratic side.
But already, Texas Republicans are sounding off a message of fear, NBC News reported, because of the impending money problems the race will cause for them.
"Paxton, with Trump’s endorsement, handily defeated four-term Sen. John Cornyn in the runoff. Democrats largely viewed Paxton as the weaker candidate because of his many controversies. But his fundraising struggles are also raising alarm bells among Republicans," said the report. "'Economically, it’s a disaster. Texas is extremely expensive,' said a GOP consultant working on Senate races, who was granted anonymity to speak candidly about party resources."
Republicans already spent over $100 million in the primary, with much of it going to the unsuccessful attempt to prop up Cornyn — but that's just the beginning, the report said.
"So far, Paxton’s fundraising has paled in comparison with that of the Democratic nominee, state Rep. James Talarico, who has raised more than $40 million — though he spent most of it in a hotly contested primary. But Talarico is expected to raise millions more; he pulled in $600,000 in just two hours following Paxton’s win, according to Talarico’s campaign. The haul was first reported by Politico," said the report. "Paxton has raised $7.6 million, and his campaign had $2.3 million left to spend as of May 6."
A deeply expensive contest in Texas could further strain resources on the National Republican Senatorial Committee and GOP megadonors, who might otherwise put that funding toward more obvious tossup races like Georgia and Maine.
"George Seay, one of Cornyn’s longtime friends and donors, declined to comment when NBC News asked him whether he would also donate to boost Paxton," noted the report. "But he said that Paxton as the nominee meant the state was now 'definitely in play' and a tougher climb for Republicans to win. 'Is Paxton going to raise a lot of money? Probably not,' Seay said, though he said that wasn’t necessarily a death knell."
