WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today delivered an opening statement during a bicameral spotlight hearing entitled, “Restoring Accountability: Exposing Trump’s Attacks on the Rule of Law.” Today’s spotlight hearing is being led by U.S. Senator Adam Schiff (D-CA), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and U.S. Representative Jamie Raskin (D-MD), Ranking Member of the House Committee on the Judiciary.
Key Durbin Quotes:
“First, President Trump has gutted and weaponized the Department of Justice and our federal law enforcement agencies.”
“The Justice Department is supposed to enforce our laws and protect our citizens. But President Trump appointed his personal attorneys to fill numerous senior positions at DOJ—including Attorney General and Deputy Attorney General. As many of us predicted, the new DOJ leadership has treated the Justice Department like the President’s personal law firm.”
“This brings me to the second way in which President Trump has threatened the rule of law: targeting law firms, simply because they dared to employ attorneys who were involved in litigation or representations that the President didn’t care for.”
“We have long recognized the importance of parties before a court having representation by attorneys of their choosing—even in unpopular and politically charged cases. This goes back to the founding of the Republic.”
“The right to counsel is so fundamental that it is enshrined in the Sixth Amendment. But instead of protecting and defending the Constitution as he swore to do, President Trump has used his position to settle political scores and target law firms he deems insufficiently loyal.”
“The President’s actions pose an existential threat to the targeted firms. Some have capitulated. And for other firms, even the threat of future executive orders was enough to lead them to preemptively cut deals with the Trump Administration.”
“That of course is the point. The President wants to intimidate law firms so they will think twice before taking on a client whose rights have been violated by the Administration. That should alarm everyone.”
“This is the kind of thing we might expect from tin-pot dictatorships in other parts of the world. But these kinds of attacks on lawyers and the rule of law are unprecedented in the United States of America. They are not normal, and we cannot allow them to continue.”
Video of Durbin’s opening statement is available here.
Audio of Durbin’s opening statement is available here.
Last month, Durbin twice asked for unanimous consent (UC) to pass a resolution that simply affirms that the Constitution vests the judicial power in the federal courts and that both the Constitution and established precedent require the executive branch to comply with all federal court rulings. Senate Republicans objected to both of Durbin’s UC requests.
At today’s spotlight hearing, members of the Senate and House of Representatives will hear firsthand testimony from Ryan Crosswell, a former Department of Justice (DOJ) Trial Attorney in the Public Integrity Section who resigned after the Trump DOJ pressured career prosecutors to drop the corruption case against New York Mayor Eric Adams in a shocking quid pro quo deal and cover-up; Liz Oyer, a former DOJ Pardon Attorney who was fired for refusing to give actor and Trump “Special Ambassador” Mel Gibson special treatment to own a firearm despite a domestic violence conviction; and Rachel Cohen, a former Associate at the law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, who resigned in protest following a string of Trump Executive Orders targeting law firms for taking on clients or cases that Trump dislikes.
Members will also hear testimony from Stacey Young, an 18-year veteran of the DOJ Civil Rights Division who launched the organization, Justice Connection, to help DOJ employees who resigned or were fired with doxing support, employment assistance following firings, legal assistance, and more.
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