Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, who ranks on the Senate Justice Committee’s rankings, said that while Vanita Gupta, President Biden’s nominee as co-attorney general, has done ‘admirable’ work in the past, her comments on the Republicans in the past have worried him about whether she could fill a critical position of Justice.
Grassley appeared before the committee during Gupta’s confirmation hearing Tuesday morning.
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“Her Twitter feed painted Republicans with a wide brush and described our national convention last year as three nights of racism, xenophobia and outrageous lies,” Grassley said during his opening speech. “How many of our colleagues in this room were there? Of course, Ms. Gupta did indeed launch direct Twitter attacks on some of them. Will this kind of biased political advocacy affect her legal advocacy in her role where she represents all Americans?”
Grassley further noted that Gupta has spoken out strongly against members of the judiciary, including Supreme Court justices Amy Coney Barrett and Brett Kavanaugh, who can handle cases in which she may be involved.
The committee’s chairman, Senator Dick Durbin, D-Ill., Later gave Gupta a chance to address Grassley’s concerns about her partisan positions.
“I understand why you have it. I take it seriously, ‘said Gupta. “I regret the harsh rhetoric I have sometimes used over the past few years. Maybe, I think, the rhetoric has become quite harsh over the past few years and I have fallen prey to it, and I wish I could take it back. I can not “But what I can dedicate to you and ask you to do is look at my lifelong record.”
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Gupta said she has been ‘looking for people who don’t always think like me’ throughout her career and has a different view of ‘creating consensus to get things done’. She added that although she was a “lifelong idealistic civil rights lawyer”, she was also “deeply pragmatic”, which is why she believes she has the confidence of officials in law enforcement.
When confirmed, she said: “You will not hear the kind of rhetoric from me.”
Later in the trial, sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, refers to Gupta’s comments from the past by referring to her refusal to accept an apology from Ryan Bounds, who was nominated in the Ninth Circuit of Appeal. Bounds, when he was in college, wrote statements that he later acknowledged as offensive, but Gupta submitted a letter opposing his choice. Bounds’ nomination was later withdrawn.
Gupta wrote that Bounds’ excuse was’ comfort ‘and not’ remorse ‘.
‘My question to you,’ said Lee, ‘would you stand by it? Is this something we should apply to all nominees? Is this something we need to apply to you, Merrick Garland, to all Justice Department nominees? “
Gupta followed up on where Lee was coming from and again expressed regret over her words from the past.
“I apologize for the kind of crude language I have used in the past,” Gupta said, noting that in her career she has worked with members of different parties and will work with others with respect in the future despite policy differences.
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“My hope is that you will consider it genuine and authentic,” she said.
Lee then stated that Gupta’s response was similar to what Bounds said, yet Gupta applied a standard “very harshly” to Bounds to oppose his nomination. The senator asks if the same standard should be applied to her.
“I believe in second chances and salvation, and I would ask for that today,” Gupta said.
Gupta is the latest nominated candidate for Biden who has had to account for her biased attacks in the past. Neera Tanden has been nominated for the post of head of the White House’s budget and management office after posting negative messages about several Republicans on social media.
At the Tanden confirmation hearing, Senator Rob Portman, R-Ohio, was the first Republican to ask questions and he immediately raised Tanden’s posts, many of which were removed very late last year.
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‘I believe that the tone, content and aggressive bias of some of your public statements have contributed to the disturbing tendency of more immorality and division in our public life, and in your case I am concerned that your personal attacks on specific senators will it makes it harder for you to work with them, ‘Portman said, noting that the OMB director should work with members of both parties.
Teeth later offered a direct apology for her remarks.
“For those who are concerned about my rhetoric and my language, you know, I’m sorry and I’m sorry for the hurt they caused,” she said.
Tanden’s vitriol was not only focused on the GOP, as she also had tension with sen Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., During the second day of her confirmation, which was led by Sanders, Tanden said she regretted her comments from the past, and that she apologizes “to people left or right who were hurt by what I said,” she added.
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Sanders said the point is not whether Teeth’s words hurt people, but the words themselves.
“It’s not a matter of getting hurt, we’re all big boys,” Sanders said. “But it’s important that we make the attacks that reflect the policy, and that we do not have to make personal attacks, no matter what opinion one may think.
Teeth ultimately does not feel she can overcome the opposition to her appointment and requests that Biden withdraw her nomination.