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In the first day of questioning from senators, popular vote loser Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch proved to be as slick, smarmy, and phony as his Ken Doll appearance might suggest. Throughout some pretty tough questioning from Democrats on torture, on abortion, on workers' rights, civil rights, and religious freedom, Gorsuch did his best to remain a blank slate. He didn't fall back on the "balls and strikes" umpire metaphor that John Roberts used, but came close, with the line "When I became a judge they gave me a gavel not a rubber stamp."
When he became a judge, he also told Sen. Al Franken, he stopped being political.
"You've said that politics is still a little foreign for you," Franken told Gorsuch. "It turns out that's not entirely correct."
Reading from emails Gorsuch turned over to the committee as part of his application to the Supreme Court, Franken pointed out Gorsuch was a volunteer in Ohio for Bush, and later asked Ken Mehlman—his former law-school roommate who worked in the White House—to put his name in for a job with the administration.
Mehlman described him as "a true loyalist" and dedicated to the conservative agenda said Franken, reading from the emails. "The Neil Gorsuch in those emails seems to be very, very familiar with politics … the Neil Gorsuch in that email was looking for a job."
Given his history with the Bush administration after he got that job, a job working for disgraced former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, it was pretty remarkable to hear Gorsuch declare his independence from Trump and swear "No man is above the law." That goes directly against all those memos and legal arguments from Gonzales's Justice Department which declared pretty much the opposite, that the president was above the law when it came to things like torture, and to warrentless wiretapping of Americans. What a difference a job opportunity makes.
The strongest hits came from Franken and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse. Franken tore into Gorsuch on the case of the truck driver who was fired for saving his own life. Gorsuch, luckily in the minority on an appeals court decision, ruled with the employers. And Franken had some harsh criticism of his reasoning.
Whitehouse grilled Gorsuch on Citizens United and the millions in dark money that have gone into supporting his nomination.
Whitehouse also landed a jab when he pointed out that the individuals and corporations that dominate our politics today spend vast amounts of money attempting to mold the judiciary. Donors like the Koch brothers pour their wealth into organizations like Cato, which, in turn, lobbies the court to strike down regulations that will benefit the Kochs’ businesses. Several justices also socialize with these billionaires. And because of our lax disclosure laws, it is often very difficult to determine who is spending money and how. For example, Whitehouse said, someone is spending $10 million to get Gorsuch confirmed.
"Hypothetically," he continued, it could be "your friend Mr. Anschutz. We don't know because it is dark money." He asked Gorsuch why someone thought it was worth $10 million to get him confirmed.
"You’d have to ask them," a frustrated Gorsuch responded.
"I can’t," Whitehouse said, "because I don’t know who they are. It’s just a front group."
The senators will continue questioning Gorsuch late into the night, Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley promised, because he wants to wrap up this part of the hearings and move on to other witnesses. But he won't be presiding after 8 PM, he says. He needs to make his 9 PM bedtime.