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Sen. Warren lashes out at Republicans, Trump over judges

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ASSOCIATED PRESS

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass. speaks on Capitol Hill in Washington. Two people with knowledge of Warren’s plans say the Massachusetts senator will formally endorse Hillary Clinton for president in the next week or two.

WASHINGTON >> Sen. Elizabeth Warren is using Donald Trump’s criticism of a federal judge to launch a broadside against congressional Republican leaders and Trump himself, in her latest stinging attack on the presumptive GOP presidential nominee.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., have condemned Trump’s claims that U.S. District Judge Gonzalo Curiel can’t preside fairly over a case involving Trump University because the U.S.-born Curiel is of Mexican descent and Trump wants to build a wall with Mexico.

“Judge Curiel is one of countless American patriots who has spent decades quietly serving his country, sometimes at great risk to his own life. Donald Trump is a loud, nasty, thin-skinned fraud who has never risked anything for anyone and serves nobody but himself. And that is just one of the many reasons why he will never be president,” Warren says.

But Warren, D-Mass., says McConnell and Ryan are really no better than Trump on the issue of judges. She cites what she contends is McConnell’s blockade of President Barack Obama’s judicial nominees including Supreme Court pick Merrick Garland, and Ryan’s acquiescence in the strategy.

“Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell want Donald Trump to appoint the next generation of judges. They want those judges to tilt the law to favor big business and billionaires like Trump. They just want Donald to quit being so vulgar and obvious about it,” Warren says.

“Donald Trump chose racism as his weapon, but his aim is exactly the same as the rest of the Republicans. Pound the courts into submission to the rich and powerful.”

Warren made the comments in a speech she planned to give to the American Constitution Society on Thursday night. Her office released excerpts in advance.

The liberal lawmaker increasingly has tangled with Trump, taking on a role that she seems able to execute more effectively than other Democrats, including presumptive presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.

Warren is the only female Democratic senator yet to officially back Clinton, but intends to make a formal endorsement in coming days, two sources with knowledge of her plans told The Associated Press late Wednesday. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the matter.

Warren’s ardent base of liberal supporters includes many who also backed Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders in the 2016 race and may follow her lead more than that of any other leading Democrat, except perhaps for Obama.

“Trump isn’t a different kind of candidate. He’s a Mitch McConnell kind of candidate,” Warren said in her prepared remarks. “Exactly the kind of candidate you’d expect from a Republican Party whose ‘script’ for several years has been to execute a full-scale assault on the integrity of our courts.”

Democrats and Republicans are in a seemingly endless dispute on judicial nominations, with each side claiming the other has been more obstructionist on the issue. Garland’s nomination has languished since March while the Supreme Court, with eight justices instead of nine following Antonin Scalia’s death, has issued a number of 4-4 rulings.

On Wednesday, Warren stood up on the Senate floor to challenge McConnell over the issue and try to move nomination votes by unanimous consent, but he denied her request and disputed her arguments.

“President Obama has had many more judicial nominees confirmed than President Bush did at the same point in his presidency,” McConnell said. “And we’ll continue to process his judicial nominations, but the minority is not going to dictate to the majority when and how we will do so.”

———

Associated Press writer Steve LeBlanc in Boston contributed to this report.

50 responses to “Sen. Warren lashes out at Republicans, Trump over judges”

  1. serious says:

    So why should this be news??? Obama started his Administration with the “them” and “us” philosophy and it has just escalated–he’ll go down in history as the Great Divider. I wonder which restroom Warren uses???

    • Tita Girl says:

      It’s “news” because Warren is positioning herself as Clinton’s attack dog. Maybe she wants a place in the admin. should Hillary be elected. VP? AG? Official Genealogist? Who knows. It’s all orchestrated.

      • scuddrunner says:

        She’s perfect. She’s as crooked as Hillary.

        • Pocho says:

          need i mention she’s Pochahantus?

        • Pocho says:

          another lying political mouth playing whatever “card” she wants to get or stay elected! American Indian , Right

        • boolakanaka says:

          Pocho, you might want to ask for your money back at the Portuguese Learning Academy and learn to spell–Pocahontas.

        • Pocho says:

          Burning the US Flag legal but not right. Keep on giving amnesty to these mad dog Mexican flag waivers! They do more than burning the US Flag or waiving the Mexically Flage as they also are physical. Klastri do you even watch the news clips or is it that your favorite News Cast that biased not showing that thuggery? You probably don’t care but for you Political Party

        • Boots says:

          At least neither Hillary nor Warren ran a scam and called it a University. Where is Ron Rewald lol.

        • Pocho says:

          did you not read of Bill Clinton’s University scandal. A lot is brewing about it the past couple of days. Trump’s problem is miniscule to what Clinton University has done

        • sarge22 says:

          POSTED ON JUNE 9, 2016 BY STEVEN HAYWARD IN BILL CLINTON, HIGHER EDUCATION
          THE CLINTON UNIVERSITY SCANDAL?
          Everyone knows about the problems with Trump University. Trump should just be glad that Trump U didn’t have a Division I NCAA football team, or else he might well have Title IX complaints to go with the class action civil suit.But did you know that Bill Clinton was a university chancellor? I didn’t either. There he is, over to the left. Moreover, he was paid $16 million by Laureate International Universities to be their “honorary” chancellor. Just think how much Slick Willie could have pulled down if he’d been a real chancellor. Just what is Laureate International University? It’s the parent company of Walden University, a mostly online, for-profit diploma mill that is facing the same kind of civil suits and fraud allegations as Trump University. Funny how the media seems to be uninterested in this story.

          Jonathan Turley reports:

    • boolakanaka says:

      I wonder what classroom you attend: 3rd or 4th grade? Marginal thinker with marginal comments….

    • Boots says:

      Hay, it wasn’t Obama who promised to resist everything that was proposed. That was republicans. Republicans will go down as the great hypocrites. Shame they have abandoned republican values and today only stand for welfare for the rich.

  2. scuddrunner says:

    Trump called her out as playing the “indian card” she’s 1/32 indian.

    Back in April of 2012, Warren was in the grips of a Senate campaign against incumbent Scott Brown when the Boston Herald unearthed that Harvard Law School held up Warren’s “Native American background” as evidence of a diverse hiring pool during her tenure there in the 1990s.

    What followed was a weeks-long attempt on Warren’s part to creatively have it both ways: while she admitted to listing herself as a minority in a law school directory in order to connect with “people like me” and that being descendant of Native Americans is an “important” part of her heritage, she also claimed to not have used her background for personal gain. And she denied knowing Harvard ever touted her as a minority. But according to The Atlantic, she has shifted between listing herself as white and a minority throughout her career.

  3. Tempmanoa says:

    There are students of Warren’s of all poltical pursuasions who support here because of her understanding of Wall Street, markets, and finance. Her understanding of markets initially led her to become a Republican, but like others who have watched and been a part of what happens on Wall Street (like Michael Lewis, the author of The Big Short, who worked on Wall Street), she realized that only lip service is given to markets and opportunities. Early in his campaign, Trump bad mouthed Wall Street and HIllary’s connections to Wall Street. But as he seeks money for his campaign, he has changed his tune. FYI, Wall Street continues to oppose Trump because of the disastrous effect his policies will have on the markets and the economy. Major players are soliciting money for PACS to defeat Trump.

    • Winston says:

      Wasn’t the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, an agency with substantial power, but unaccountable to congress, her brainchild? I’m no fan of the banking and finance industry, but, given the willingness of the “accountable” federal bureaucracy to run amok, why is an “independent” regulatory agency not a clear threat? Seems undemocratic.

      • klastri says:

        You’re making things up again.

        All executive agencies are accountable to Congress. Congress controls the money.

        You really enjoy lying!

        • Manoa_Fisherman says:

          You are totally wrong. The CFPB is an out of control agency that seeks to impose outlandish requirements on all financial institutions, big and small, without regard to the ramifications to consumers or institutions. Such stupidity only results in less competition and, like Obamacare, ultimately is bad for everyone.

          Warren’s lack of understanding of the complexities of the modern financial services industry results in one size fits all world, in other words a monopoly. The destruction of the financial services industry, and business in general, in the United States by Warren only serves to destroy competition and prevent reasonable services to be provided to the American consumers. For example, since the “reforms” started under Clinton in getting rid of the Glass-Steagall Act in 1999, the federal preemption of states regulatory authority during the 1990s, and imposition of harsh regulatory schemes under Dodd-Frank in 2008, the number of local credit unions in Hawaii has been reduced from 200 to less than 65 today. That means that small groups and communities must now rely on larger financial institutions and pay higher costs for their services.

          Warren’s lack of understanding of the real world is frightening and the thought that she may have more power or influence in Washington under the Clinton II administration only makes me want to tell all my friends to vote for Trump at any cost. I was hoping that Sanders would take out Hillary, but that ain’t going to happen. If Clinton/Warren control the working of our government, god help us. Our middle class will be eliminated and put on food stamps along with the current 46 million US citizens.

          Replacing machinists, steel workers and coal miners jobs with flipping burgers at McDs is not a goal of the middle class as an alternate career. Time for a change, and Clinton doesn’t get it and Warren never could even understand.

        • lespark says:

          Do you condone the burning of the American flag?

        • klastri says:

          lespark – The definition of condone is to sanction something, especially with reluctance.

          Yes, I condone flag burning. Almost all lawyers do, because we understand that it’s speech protected by the First Amendment. You cannot understand what that means, because you are completely ignorant of the Constitution and the law.

          Plus, you are fixated, in a particularly bizarre fashion, on people of Mexican heritage.

          It’s fine that you’re a racist. You’ve made that clear over and over again for quite a long time. Just admit it.

        • lespark says:

          Klastri, that explains it. Why are so angry with America? Next time I see a Mexican burning the American flag I will think of you.

        • klastri says:

          lespark – I’m flattered that you think about me so often. I never think about you.

          You’re lying, obviously (but what else do you do?) about me being angry with America. It’s just that I’m much, much smarter than you and I’m much better educated. So I understand the Constitution.

      • boolakanaka says:

        Wow, do you just fabricate as you see fit? It is a basic tenet of all executive branch entities to have oversight and accountable to congress–sort of civics 101, no?? See: http://www.consumerfed.org/pdfs/CFPB-Accountability-fact-sheet-6-11.pdf

    • palani says:

      Warren made the comments in a speech she planned to give to the American Constitution Society…

      Warren has more regard for the Communist Manifesto than the American Constitution.

      • klastri says:

        Are you stuck in 1950 or something? What, exactly, in the “Communist Manifesto” has Senator Warren advanced that is not allowed by the United States Constitution?

  4. lespark says:

    As it concerns the Clintons and their use of the race card, ask yourself which is more egregious , rape or race.

    • klastri says:

      You are lying if you mean that Mrs. Clinton is a rapist. You lie about this over and over again. Mrs. Clinton is not a rapist. Please stop lying.

      Donald Trump is a proud and emphatic racist.

      • lespark says:

        Bill is the rapist and Hillary is the enablist. Don’t you know what’s going on the last 30 years? People have died defending the first amendment. You must condone the burning of the American Flag at peaceful protests.

        • HanabataDays says:

          I certainly do.

        • klastri says:

          I’m a lawyer, and unlike you, I actually understand the First Amendment. Flag burning is a protected form of free speech. You’ve made it clear that you loathe the Constitution, but that’s the way it is.

          Bill Clinton is not running for President. It would help if you would simply stop lying.

        • Pocho says:

          Burning the US Flag legal but not right. Keep on giving amnesty to these mad dog Mexican flag waivers! They do more than burning the US Flag or waiving the Mexically Flage as they also are physical. Klastri do you even watch the news clips or is it that your favorite News Cast that biased not showing that thuggery? You probably don’t care but for you Political Party

        • Pocho says:

          A lawyer who’d Politically Correct for Greed! Money that’s all you see, won’t even stand up against the Stars and Stripes Flag burning!

        • klastri says:

          Pocho – It would be so refreshing if you once – just once – knew what you were talking about.

          What does money have to do with anything? There’s no need for defense against flag burning because it’s legal. No lawyers need to do any work for anyone who burns a flag, because no one can be arrested for it.

          You really need to start reading books.

          Are you so mad at everything because you can’t construct sentences?

        • sarge22 says:

          klastri admits to being a lawyer. Really? You have to be kidding. Favorite saying is “You are lying”. Would love to see the lawyer in court.

        • klastri says:

          sarge22 – My best days are when I can leave a lying witness sitting a pool of his own sweat. I can’t stand liars.

          You more than anyone should know that.

          You support an overt racist. Not sure why you can’t just be a man and admit that.

        • Boots says:

          You don’t support peaceful protests? What? you prefer riots, guns, and death?

    • Boots says:

      What are you talking about? This is so far out to lunch even for a republican.

  5. klastri says:

    Donald Trump is a proud and emphatic racist. There is absolutely no question whatever about that now. People in his own party, who formerly kissed his ring, have at long last turned against him.

    He is a disgrace to the Republican Party and to the United States. Racists have no place in government.

    People here who continue to support him should be ashamed of themselves. But since his fellow racists have no capacity for shame, that probably won’t happen.

  6. bsdetection says:

    The Des Moines Register, the largest paper in the home state of Republican Senator Grassley, chair of the Judiciary Committee, blasted him for obstructing the confirmation of Federal judges and for his cowardice in the face of Trump’s racist attack on Judge Curiel:

    “this week, Grassley didn’t seem at all perturbed by Trump’s remarks about Judge Curiel, which have been widely denounced and described even by House Speaker Paul Ryan as the “textbook definition of a racist comment.”

    The best Grassley could muster was this: “I would not say what Trump said.”

    As Edmund Burke said, the only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing. And when it comes to Donald Trump, there are invertebrates that have shown more spine than Sen. Charles Grassley.”

    • klastri says:

      The Republican Party has become the home to all cowards. They’re afraid of brown people, gay people, transgender people. Even afraid of 5 year-old Syrian refugees and their mothers.

      Just read the cowardice in this forum. It’s disgraceful. People afraid of their own shadows.

      • sarge22 says:

        The Democratic Party appears to be afraid of brown people, gay people, transgender people as they cater to their every whim.

        • klastri says:

          The reason that there are a lot more Democrats than Republicans is because imbeciles like Trump (and you) force people out of the Republican Party by bigotry and hate.

          They are all welcome to join the Democratic Party, and vote in more Democrats. We have plenty of room.

        • sarge22 says:

          “You are lying” Beat you to it. You must have gotten an A+ in name calling in law school. Do you have any idea why the Democratic Party has so much room? Somebody must have departed.

        • klastri says:

          sarge22 – There are more Democrats than Republicans. Period. Facts are stubborn.

        • lespark says:

          Obama is fighting for his legacy. If by some miracle Trump wins the WH he gets his own FBI director and AG. The stakes are incredibly high.

  7. dlg808 says:

    Another bitter old hag.

  8. lespark says:

    She could use some war paint and a feather.

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