It looked for a while like Orrin Hatch was going to try and push Bill Pryor’s judicial nomination through the Senate Judiciary Committee despite the revelations of fundraising improprieties, but it fell apart at the last minute. The committee vote has been delayed until next Wednesday, the third — and probably final — delay.
Dems on the committee naturally howled when reports surfaced that Pryor, as Alabama’s attorney general, solicited campaign contributions from corporations subject to lawsuits or regulations in Alabama through a partisan group he created, called the Republican Attorneys General Association (RAGA).
Oddly enough, the controversy at the committee hearing yesterday did not focus simply on whether Pryor violated professional ethics, conflict-of-interest rules, or campaign finance laws, but instead dealt with potential accusations of perjury.
When Pryor testified in June before the Judiciary Committee, Pryor deflected criticisms about his role in RAGA’s fundraising, insisting — under oath — that he had not solicited political contributions from businesses in Alabama that would come under his jurisdiction as state attorney general.
The problem for Pryor is that the newly-discovered RAGA documents show that Pryor did seek contributions from Alabama businesses, including the International Paper Corporation and the United States Steel Corporation.
Making matters worse, Pryor told the committee during his sworn testimony that he was “unaware” of any tobacco companies contacted for campaign donations during the multi-state lawsuit Pryor was part of. Yet one of the obtained documents listed Pryor as personally contacting lobbyists for Philip Morris and Brown & Williamson, both of whom later contributed $25,000 to RAGA.
Let’s see, if I remember this correctly, Republicans used to have a thing about false testimony under oath.
Anyway, in light of all these problems, Dems on the committee suggested a delay is warranted on voting on Pryor’s nomination to the 11th Circuit.
Predictably, Republicans resisted the delay. Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), himself a former member of RAGA, accused the Dems of trying to “smear this man’s name.” Hatch said it “appears to be…a phony delay.” Ultimately, however, Hatch relented and put off the vote. (He said it had nothing to do with Democratic complaints; he was changing the schedule to accommodate a scheduling for a member of the committee.)
As for Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), the one Senator whose opinion on Pryor matters most right now, the pressure is still on. The moderate Republican has another week to think about whether to support Pryor’s nomination and remove himself from the “undecided” camp, of which he is the only member. If Specter votes with his party, Pryor will go to the Senate floor and almost certainly generate a well-deserved filibuster. If he votes with committee Dems, Pryor’s nomination will be finished.
Stay tuned…