Ketanji Brown Jackson refuses to provide definition of a woman when pressed by Sen. Blackburn
Sen. Marsha Blackburn presses the Supreme Court nominee for the definition of a woman after asking her about a 1996 majority SCOTUS opinion from the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
Mark Levin highlighted Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin's conduct while presiding over the questioning of Ketanji Brown Jackson, saying he is intentionally demeaning Republican inquiries as "conspiracy theories" to cover for the Supreme Court nominee's "radicalism."
Levin called the Illinois Democrat a 21st Century version of Napoleon Bonaparte who wanted incongruous control of questioning.
On "The Mark Levin Show on Westwood One," Levin said Durbin's sparring with Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, about child pornography convicts' sentencing reports was telling, in that there must be damning revelations within regarding Jackson's jurisprudence.
GOP CRITICIZES SEN. RICHARD DURBIN'S HANDLING OF JACKSON HEARINGS
Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., listens as Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., questions Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
"He's covering up 48,000 pages of documents from the sentencing commission, because obviously there are things in there they do not want us to know before they push her onto the Supreme Court for a lifetime appointment," he said of Durbin.
As Levin noted, during the hearing, the six-term senator rebuffed demands to unseal such filings, warning of their potential effect on victims if leaked:
"I would not want it weighing on my conscience that we are turning over these pre-sentence reports to this committee for the first time in history and that information out of this … would somehow compromise or endanger any victim as a result," Durbin said Wednesday.
On his program, Levin claimed the East St. Louis, Ill., native was also wrong in his characterization of GOP demands as being grounded in conspiracy theory.
DURBIN HOLDS OUT HOPE FOR GOP SUPPORT FOR KETANJI BROWN JACKSON
Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) smiles. (Brian Kersey/Getty Images) ( )
"You’re simply not allowed to use [Jackson's] own writings and words to raise questions about her radicalism. The same writings and words that the White House and the Democrats embraced in order to support her nomination in the first place," Levin said.
When Durbin claimed the existence of "bizarre charges against [Jackson] and her family," Levin responded that no one is attacking Jackson personally or going after her family.
"What theories?" he asked. "You know, this coward will never come on this show [to explain]."
Levin added that Durbin also tried to block or curtail questioning about Jackson's public sentencing records – ripping the lawmaker for characterizing Sen. Josh Hawley's, R-Mo., questions as "attacks."
He pointed out that Durbin also sparred with Cruz over sentencing questions, and that he repeatedly banged his gavel to try to force Cruz to cede the floor to Delaware Democratic Sen. Christopher Coons.
Mike Lee, R-UT (Photo By Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images) Ted Cruz, R-TX (Photo By Tom Williams-Pool/Getty Images) Josh Hawley, R-MO (Photo By Tom Williams-Pool/Getty Images) ( )
"Dick is acting like he's Napoleon – he's cutting off legitimate areas of inquiry based on what Ketanji Brown Jackson has actually written [and] ruled" said Levin, a former Reagan DOJ chief of staff.
He added that the most telling moment from the hearing was when Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., asked Jackson to define what a woman is:
"You can accuse Justice Kavanaugh, who I've never liked, of gang-rape, and on and on to destroy the man… but if you ask Ketanji Brown Jackson to define ‘woman,’ apparently you're a racist."
"Nobody should serve on the Supreme Court who cannot define the word ‘woman’," he said. "And Dick Durbin finds this a ‘conspiracy theory’."