Responding to what Judiciary President Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) Described as “softball issues” designed to avoid some Republican Party criticism of her, Gupta insisted that her party comments on social media did not stop her from finding common ground. with a diverse group of advocates on a range of issues.
Gupta did not specifically identify which tweets she regrets. But Republican Party lawmakers accused her of wanting to “strip the police” – a position that Gupta says she rejects – and criticized her for a 2012 call to decriminalize the possession of all illegal drugs, a position she says she no longer holds.
Democrats said the criticisms of Gupta amount to bad faith attacks to harm a qualified candidate. “You were the victim of a smear campaign, a despicable and rancid campaign to discredit you,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.).
Gupta described herself as “an idealistic lifelong civil rights lawyer”, who is also “a deeply pragmatic person and a builder of relationships”.
She testified on Tuesday before the Senate Judiciary Committee alongside Lisa Monaco, Biden’s nominee for second position in the DOJ. The Senate is expected to confirm Attorney General-nominated Merrick Garland for the DOJ’s top job in a vote on Wednesday.
Although Monaco’s designated position is more senior than that of Gupta, Republicans concentrated most of their energy on Gupta, a prominent supporter of progressive police reform and civil rights. The Republican Party’s scrutiny of Gupta’s social media habits echoed senators’ criticisms of Neera Tanden’s fiery tweets that last week helped sink his nomination to become Biden’s chief budget officer.
Senator Mike Lee (R-Utah) had a fight with Gupta over his previous statements, although without publicly reading or describing any specific comments she had made. He suggested that she was asking for forgiveness for her exaggerated rhetoric while denying such understanding to the nominees she opposed as a civil rights defender, including Ryan Bounds, an Oregon lawyer, President Donald Trump, appointed to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. in 2017.
Trump withdrew Bounds’s nomination the following year after Senator Tim Scott (RS.C.) joined the Democrats in expressing concern about the lawyer’s writings in college against “racist groups [which] divide by race for your good ethnic creations ”.
After Gupta apologized again for his “crude language” and asked senators to consider his broader background, Lee said, “I would love to know how this is different from Ryan Bounds. Ryan Bounds gave us almost exactly the same answer. … Does this pattern also apply to you? “
“I believe in the second chance and redemption, and I would ask for it today,” replied Gupta.
Gupta, currently president and CEO of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, also denied claims that his previous police reform efforts represented an attempt to disallow law enforcement.
“I do not support the emptying of the police,” she said. “I spent my career, where more resources were needed for law enforcement and things like cameras used on the body, as well as welfare and security programs for police officers.”
Democrats in the White House and Senate loudly praised Gupta’s endorsement by police groups, including the Brotherly Police Order, which endorsed Donald Trump in the 2016 and 2020 elections.
Senator John Cornyn (R-Texas) said that the moderate face that Gupta was presenting at the hearing was in conflict with what he called “an almost uninterrupted record of party cultural war that is on his resume”.
Panelist Republican Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa said at the beginning of the hearing that he was concerned about a tweet from Gupta in which she said of the 2020 Republican National Convention: “I don’t know if I can take three more nights of racism, xenophobia and outrageous lies.”
Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) Also cited some tweets she considered questionable, including one criticizing Senator Susan Collins (R-Maine) in 2018, when she announced plans to vote to confirm Brett Kavanaugh in the Supreme Court.
“Senator Collins is failing her voters and sending a dangerous message to the survivors. This is painful,” Gupta wrote in a message.
Blackburn also noted that during the controversy over the sexual assault charges against Kavanaugh, Gupta said: “Believe in the survivors”. The senator asked if this applies to women who have made accusations of sexual harassment or impropriety against Governor Andrew Cuomo (DN.Y.) in the past few days, but Gupta did not say whether she believed those who made allegations against Cuomo.
“On Governor Cuomo’s allegations, the attorney general’s investigation is ongoing and I believe it is appropriate,” said Gupta.
“So, you don’t have an opinion as if you had an opinion in 2018?” Said Blackburn. “You have been posting about women who believe many times since the #MeToo movement started … To me, it seems a little hypocritical, to say the least.”
“I believe that survivors should be heard,” said Gupta.
Senator Cory Booker (DN.J.), who said he was a personal friend of Gupta, came to his defense later in the hearing. The senator said Gupta had worked hard to find Republican allies on issues such as criminal justice reform.
“I never heard you belittle members across the hall,” said Booker.
Booker also led a brief brainstorming session on the impact of Twitter on political dialogue. “I wonder what Twitter has done to our culture and the sarcasm it seems to generate,” said the senator.
“To be honest with you, I think Twitter has been incredibly polarizing. I played a part in that,” replied Gupta. “Rewards sarcasm and polarization.” She said that, if confirmed, “you will be happy to know that I am not going to tweet like that”.
Gupta promised to be champion of access to the polls if confirmed. She endorsed the House-passed voting rights bill that is expected to become a critical point as the Senate assesses the future of legislative obstruction, which likely means that the measure would need 10 Republican votes to pass.
After the January attack on the Capitol by rebels that included white supremacists and militia members, DOJ’s efforts to combat extremist right-wing groups are also under new scrutiny. Monaco said almost at the beginning of his testimony that the problem has worsened.
“Unfortunately and worryingly, the threat of domestic terrorism is spreading across the country,” she said.
Monaco also promised that, if confirmed, she would direct all the necessary resources for the investigation of the attack on the Capitol and seek to understand the roots of “such an attack that I personally never thought we would see in my life”.