On Thursday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “The Beat,” Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) stated that the Senate should not confirm a nominee to the Supreme Court made by President Trump while the president is a subject of a criminal investigation.
Booker said, “[P]erhaps one of the biggest things that has been shaking this administration is that this president is the subject of a criminal investigation. And so, here you have a president that has been making a whole lot of loyalty tests and other things from people, we know this now. Should we be confirming a justice that’s going to be coming from a person, frankly, that there’s a conflict of interest there, that this judge could end up having to preside over cases relevant to this criminal investigation? Can a president pardon himself? Can a president be criminally indicted? Can a president dismiss the person that’s investigating them? A lot of these issues might come right before this Supreme Court. And to have a president who has a history of demanding loyalty tests, should that person be able to, right now, while this criminal investigation is going on, be allowed to put such a — to make an appointment? I say no.”
Anchor Ari Melber then asked, “So, you’re suggesting that it would be most prudent for the president not to be allowed to fill this vacancy at all while this probe is open?”
Booker answered, “I’m saying that the Senate should be acting in a responsible fashion. Both Democrats and Republicans have already seen fit to think about a potential constitutional crisis. I have a bipartisan bill, with Lindsey Graham (R-SC), that passed out of the Judiciary Committee, trying to protect the special counsel and this investigation. And here we have relevant facts that might come before the Supreme Court, like I mentioned before, that, should this president be able to put people in place that could then come back and protect him, a president who has asked for loyalty tests, asked for a litmus test such as that. And I just, again, think that that is imprudent, and we shouldn’t do it.”
He further stated, “[I]n this environment…taking a pause right now and waiting until the outcome of this criminal investigation, of which President Trump is a subject of, it seems like the responsible thing to do to me.”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
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