On Wednesday, the Senate Judiciary Committee considered five of President Biden's judicial nominations. Most notable was the consideration of nominee Nancy Abudu to the Eleventh Circuit. RNLA is formally opposing the nomination of Ms. Abudu because:
[H]er views are extreme and fall outside of the mainstream. RNLA has only formally opposed one other judicial nominee made by the Biden Administration. We oppose Ms. Abudu because her views and rhetoric go beyond that of even progressive activists, and we see no reason to believe that she will be an impartial judge on the “hot button” issue of election law.
For instance, Ms. Abudu has likened the loss of felons' right to vote to slavery, implied that laws requiring photo ID and proof of citizenship to vote are voter suppression, and labeled senators who oppose the Democrats' attempts at a federal takeover of elections as similar to “pro-Jim Crow senators of the past.”
Ms. Abudu claims that her past comments equating the loss of felons’ voting rights to slavery were made as part of her role as a legal advocate, but @SenMikeLee points out that the comments were not made in a legal filing. You can read them here. ⬇️ https://t.co/PCvYKCIuPO
— RNLA ⚖️ (@TheRepLawyer) April 27, 2022
Ms. Abudu currently works as the Strategic Litigation Director for the Southern Poverty Law Center, which Senator Ben Sasse described as an organization that raises "their money largely by defaming people that they disagree with."
Astonishingly, Ms. Abudu repeatedly refused during today's hearing to comment on her employer's history of labeling mainstream conservative organizations as "hate groups," arguing that she is not involved in making those decisions.
Ms. Abudu is proud to work for the SPLC based on their work on racial justice issues. Yet, she still refuses to substantively comment on the organization's history of issues with racism in the leadership and their labeling of mainstream conservative groups as "hate groups."
— RNLA ⚖️ (@TheRepLawyer) April 27, 2022
Nancy Abudu again refused to disagree with SPLC's designations when questioned by @SenSasse . pic.twitter.com/eQIaFIharb
— JCN (@judicialnetwork) April 27, 2022
Ms. Abudu refuses to answer @SenTedCruz's question about whether she agrees with the Southern Poverty Law Center's past statement that the @FRCdc is the equivalent to the Ku Klux Klan or the Nazi Party.
— RNLA ⚖️ (@TheRepLawyer) April 27, 2022
Ms. Abudu's refusal to disavow the radical rhetoric of her employer, the Southern Poverty Law Center, is "absolutely extraordinary." @HawleyMO
— RNLA ⚖️ (@TheRepLawyer) April 27, 2022
To take things further, Ms. Abudu refused to substantively comment on things that are clearly under her purview as Strategic Litigation Director, such as past and currently pending litigation. By her own admission, this litigation is not limited to voting rights cases as she implied at times during Wednesday's hearing.
Not only has Ms. Abudu declined to comment on general matters at the Southern Poverty Law Center, but now she is declining to substantively answer questions from @SenMikeLee on things that are directly in her purview as Director of Strategic Litigation.
— RNLA ⚖️ (@TheRepLawyer) April 27, 2022
There's no doubt that Ms. Abudu is one of the most radical nominees that President Biden has nominated to the federal judiciary.
"I can't believe you've been nominated for this position. I can't believe that the President of the United States would nominate someone from [the Southern Poverty Law Center] with this record," says @HawleyMO to Biden's latest far-left judicial nominee pic.twitter.com/JBI9z4YaXP
— Abigail Marone 🇺🇸 (@abigailmarone) April 27, 2022
Read RNLA's full letter in opposition to the nomination of Nancy Abudu to the Eleventh Circuit here.