Unlike the behavior of Democrats during Trump’s SCOTUS nominee hearings, Republicans are concentrating on Judge Jackson’s judicial record.

They will, however, however, have to do so handcuffed.

Even though Jackson has regularly referred to the context of her cases in justifying her sentencing of child pornographers, Senate Judiciary Chairman Dick Durbin (D-IL) is refusing to give Republicans access to those files.

What Are You Hiding?

Jackson has regularly stated that the sentencing she issues was based on the facts of the case, not her being soft on crime.

So, to further investigate, Senators Ted Cruz (R-TX), Josh Hawley (R-MO), and Mike Lee (R-UT) wanted to see her records.

This all came to a head when Senator Cruz was questioning Jackson, which is when Durbin dropped the bombshell.

Durbin is refusing to allow the Republicans to see those files under the guise of protecting the victims.

He stated, “We spent a lot of time here reflecting on these terrible crimes. Everyone has acknowledged how terrible they are, and how damaging they can be to the victims of crime story after story and I don’t question a single word that was spoken separately for the same victims.

“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, because it was released, would somehow compromise or endanger any victim as a result of it.

“This information was not requested before, it’s never been requested by this committee.

“And I think we ought to think long and hard about whether or not we even consider going into pre-sentence reports.”

Cruz immediately pushed back, stating that the reports are “relevant to understanding those cases,” and he is right.

The Texas Senator further added that nobody in the Senate has any desire to expose the victims or put them at risk, but they should be able to see those files to understand the context to which Jackson regularly referred.

Durbin stood firm, stating, “I do not want it weighing on my conscience that I gave the green light to release this information, so that it might endanger the lives of innocent victims.

“I’m sorry, that’s a bridge too far for me.”

Ranking member Senator Grassley (R-IA) further accused the White House of hiding even more information regarding probation officer recommendations by Jackson.

He believes the White House was doing this to discredit the GOP questioning of Jackson while not giving Republicans access to this information.

He stated, “No one on our side of the aisle had access to this information,” Grassley said. “In fact, before this past week, I’m not sure anyone but the probation office and the court had access to this information … Somehow, it appears that the White House obtained this information.

“It was leaked in pieces to media outlets in order to cast doubt on legitimate members’ questions and then it was provided to only Democratic members of this committee without any of the underlying documentation.

“You can’t ask for information if you don’t know if it exists. I’ve asked for non-public records related to the judge’s tenure on the [US] Sentencing Commission.

“Those have not been produced, just like 48,000 pages of records withheld by the White House.

“How is the United States Senate supposed to review a record that we don’t have? This process might be timely, but it’s neither thorough nor fair to the American public, and I hope we can rectify that.”

When everyone returned from a break, the Republican Senators were handed a single sheet of paper with the recommendations given to Jackson on them.

Cruz responded, “Is there anything else that Democrats have access to, of Judge Jackson’s record, that you have not shared with Republicans on this committee, and in particular, the pre-sentence reports?

“I suspect if they were helpful [to Jackson], you would have made them public, so the fact you haven’t raises an inference that they’re not helpful to the case you’re making.”

Democrats are clearly playing games, trying to make Republicans look foolish in the process, and the media is eating it up.

We all know how this would have played out in the media had Republicans hidden files on a nominee, only supplying relevant information upon request.

Cruz also addressed this issue, stating, “You keep referencing discovery.

“This is not litigation. This is a committee of the United States Senate, where both sides of the aisle have a right to access to the record and we’re carrying out our constitutional duty of advice and consent.”

Durbin responded, “I will tell you this. For some reason, your side didn’t request the information.”

Cruz immediately fired back, “But how would we know to request?

“So I’m hereby requesting all other information you magically have, that you haven’t told us you have, that you’re not sharing with the other side.”

Anyone with an ounce of commonsense should be wondering what Democrats are trying to hide here and the media should be going ballistic right now.

Sadly, that is not happening merely because it is Democrats playing the game, and we know the media rarely crosses the Democrat Party.

Source: New York Post