Politics

John Kennedy Asks Biden Nominee Anne Traum The Same Question 9 Times In A Row

[Youtube Screenshot Forbes Breaking News]

Brianna Lyman News and Commentary Writer
Font Size:

Republican Louisiana Sen. John Kennedy grilled one of President Joe Biden’s judicial nominees with the same question nine times in a row over the course of five minutes.

Anne Traum was nominated by Biden to be the United States District Judge for the District of Nevada. During Thursday’s Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, Kennedy questioned Traum’s beliefs on criminal justice.

“Do you think we should forgive criminal misbehavior in the name of social justice?” Kennedy asked.

“Senator, thank you for that question. I recognize  that all issues of crime and all responses to crime are fundamentally policy issues. So, those are important issues, they are important for our community and our nation, but I leave those policy issues to the policymakers if confirmed as a judge I would not be a policy maker,” Traum said, before Kennedy cut her off.

“I’m not asking your opinion as a judge. I’m asking your opinion as a person, as a law professor. I’ll stipulate, with all of you, that you’re all going to be fair and unbiased. Now, do you think misbehavior and illegal acts should be forgiven in the name of social justice?” Kennedy pressed.

“Senator, I do believe that all criminal policy is fundamentally a policy issue –” Traum began before Kennedy again interjected to ask whether, as an individual, she believes that an illegal act should be forgiven in the name of social justice.

“Senator, that is not a view that I have taken in my work,” Traum said.

“That’s no?” Kennedy said. “Is your answer ‘no?'”

Traum again reiterated she has not “taken that view” in her official capacity.

“I’m asking, professor, what you believe. I think this is really straightforward. Do you believe that an illegal act should be forgiven in the name of social justice. It’s pretty simple.”

“Senator, I believe that we have criminal laws, criminal laws that are created by policy making bodies like this one-” Traum said before Kennedy again interjected.

“I got all that. Do you believe that a criminal act should be forgiven in the name of social justice?” Kennedy, seemingly agitated, said.

“We have not only criminal laws but we have a criminal process by which people come before the court to be held accountable if they are charged with a crime. And I have enormous respect for that process.”

“I do too,” Kennedy said. “Do you believe that a criminal act should be forgiven in the name of social justice?”

Traum said each individual that appears before the court has a unique case and she “respects that process.”

Kennedy again asked whether a criminal act should be forgiven in the name of social justice.

“I don’t think I could say, with respect to any particular case or as a generality with respect to any category of cases–” Traum said.

“Do you not have an opinion?” Kennedy questioned.

“I don’t have a view to share on how any particular kind of case should be handled,” Traum said.

“If confirmed you’re going to be a federal judge. And I join my friend, Sen. Durbin, in saying judicial intemperment is important. But I think being unbiased is even more important,” Kennedy said. “And I find it incredible that you won’t answer my question.”

“So I’m going to ask it again, maybe it’s me,” Kennedy said. “Do you believe that we should forgive a criminal act in the name of social justice?”

“Senator, I share the view that we should be unbiased but I also share the view that our criminal justice system and our process is very individualized so what should happen in any particular case is a matter of the process and the very specific facts and that –” Traum responded.

“Do you believe that a criminal act should be forgiven in the name of social justice,” Kennedy once again pressed. (RELATED: Biden Nominee Dale Ho Called Electoral College, US Senate ‘Anti-Democratic’)

Traum began explaining the outcome of a case is individualized before Kennedy cut her off and asked what her favorite color is.

“Blue” Traum said, with Kennedy joking he’s received at least one clear answer from Traum.

“I can’t vote for you, not if you’re not going to answer the questions,” Kennedy said. “I mean that was embarrassing.”

Traum, a law professor at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas, was nominated by Biden in November to fill one of two vacancies that the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts considered an emergency fill, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Traum was selected by a judicial commission in Nevada made up of Democratic Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto and Jacky Rosen.

PREMIUM ARTICLE: Subscribe To Keep Reading

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign Up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
BENEFITS READERS PASS PATRIOTS FOUNDERS
Daily and Breaking Newsletters
Daily Caller Shows
Ad Free Experience
Exclusive Articles
Custom Newsletters
Editor Daily Rundown
Behind The Scenes Coverage
Award Winning Documentaries
Patriot War Room
Patriot Live Chat
Exclusive Events
Gold Membership Card
Tucker Mug

What does Founders Club include?

Tucker Mug and Membership Card
Founders

Readers,

Instead of sucking up to the political and corporate powers that dominate America, The Daily Caller is fighting for you — our readers. We humbly ask you to consider joining us in this fight.

Now that millions of readers are rejecting the increasingly biased and even corrupt corporate media and joining us daily, there are powerful forces lined up to stop us: the old guard of the news media hopes to marginalize us; the big corporate ad agencies want to deprive us of revenue and put us out of business; senators threaten to have our reporters arrested for asking simple questions; the big tech platforms want to limit our ability to communicate with you; and the political party establishments feel threatened by our independence.

We don't complain -- we can't stand complainers -- but we do call it how we see it. We have a fight on our hands, and it's intense. We need your help to smash through the big tech, big media and big government blockade.

We're the insurgent outsiders for a reason: our deep-dive investigations hold the powerful to account. Our original videos undermine their narratives on a daily basis. Even our insistence on having fun infuriates them -- because we won’t bend the knee to political correctness.

One reason we stand apart is because we are not afraid to say we love America. We love her with every fiber of our being, and we think she's worth saving from today’s craziness.

Help us save her.

A second reason we stand out is the sheer number of honest responsible reporters we have helped train. We have trained so many solid reporters that they now hold prominent positions at publications across the political spectrum. Hear a rare reasonable voice at a place like CNN? There’s a good chance they were trained at Daily Caller. Same goes for the numerous Daily Caller alumni dominating the news coverage at outlets such as Fox News, Newsmax, Daily Wire and many others.

Simply put, America needs solid reporters fighting to tell the truth or we will never have honest elections or a fair system. We are working tirelessly to make that happen and we are making a difference.

Since 2010, The Daily Caller has grown immensely. We're in the halls of Congress. We're in the Oval Office. And we're in up to 20 million homes every single month. That's 20 million Americans like you who are impossible to ignore.

We can overcome the forces lined up against all of us. This is an important mission but we can’t do it unless you — the everyday Americans forgotten by the establishment — have our back.

Please consider becoming a Daily Caller Patriot today, and help us keep doing work that holds politicians, corporations and other leaders accountable. Help us thumb our noses at political correctness. Help us train a new generation of news reporters who will actually tell the truth. And help us remind Americans everywhere that there are millions of us who remain clear-eyed about our country's greatness.

In return for membership, Daily Caller Patriots will be able to read The Daily Caller without any of the ads that we have long used to support our mission. We know the ads drive you crazy. They drive us crazy too. But we need revenue to keep the fight going. If you join us, we will cut out the ads for you and put every Lincoln-headed cent we earn into amplifying our voice, training even more solid reporters, and giving you the ad-free experience and lightning fast website you deserve.

Patriots will also be eligible for Patriots Only content, newsletters, chats and live events with our reporters and editors. It's simple: welcome us into your lives, and we'll welcome you into ours.

We can save America together.

Become a Daily Caller Patriot today.

Signature

Neil Patel