{"id":3150,"date":"2021-03-12T12:45:32","date_gmt":"2021-03-12T20:45:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.crimeandconsequences.blog\/?p=3150"},"modified":"2021-03-12T12:45:32","modified_gmt":"2021-03-12T20:45:32","slug":"the-dishonesty-of-bidens-choice-for-no-3-at-the-justice-department","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.crimeandconsequences.blog\/?p=3150","title":{"rendered":"The Dishonesty of Biden’s Choice for No. 3 at the Justice Department"},"content":{"rendered":"

President Biden has nominated Vanita Gupta to be Associate Attorney General, the third highest position in the Justice Department.\u00a0 Gupta was Assistant AG for Civil Rights under Obama.\u00a0 As such, she was asked by the Attorney General, then Loretta Lynch, for a recommendation whether DOJ should seek the death penalty against the mass killer of black worshipers, Dylann Roof.\u00a0 Gupta recommended against it on the preposterous grounds that mitigating factors outweighed aggravating ones.<\/p>\n

She was asked about her role in making that recommendation at her Senate confirmation hearing.\u00a0 Instead of telling the truth, she did a fancy dance designed to mislead the Judiciary Committee.\u00a0 It was a deception worthy of a pickpocket, not someone who hopes to get a job overseeing the prosecution of criminals.\u00a0 For her flagrant deceit alone, she should be rejected (indeed, her nomination should be withdrawn).<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Paul Mirengoff has the story<\/a> at Power Line.\u00a0 In an earlier post<\/a>, Paul noted:<\/p>\n

[W]hen Sen. Marsha Blackburn asked Gupta about her opposition to the death penalty, the nominee assured the Senator that when she was at the DOJ she enforced the death penalty, notwithstanding her personal views. Gupta cited the case of Dylann Roof, the racist who killed Black churchgoers in Charleston, South Carolina. Gupta said that she enforced the law as to Roof and that he was convicted and sentenced to death \u201cunder her watch.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

“Under her watch,” got that?\u00a0 What that answer is designed to suggest is that Gupta facilitated, or at the very minimum did not seek to obstruct, DOJ’s seeking a death sentence for Roof.\u00a0 But here’s the deal:<\/p>\n

Gupta\u2019s statement is…extremely misleading. In reality, Gupta recommended not seeking the death penalty for Dylann Roof<\/em>. In a memo explaining her recommendation, Gupta claimed that mitigating factors outweighed aggravating ones in Roof\u2019s case.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

So for any practical purpose, Gupta intentionally misled\u00a0 —\u00a0 that is, functionally lied\u00a0 —\u00a0 to the Senate about a matter that is not merely material, but quite important, to her earlier work at DOJ and to the work she would do if she were confirmed for an even higher post now.<\/p>\n

There may be a world in which deceit like that is forgivable in a low-ranking prosecutor like a rookie AUSA (although not in my book).\u00a0 But there is no world in which it is forgivable in the No. 3 at Main Justice.<\/p>\n

Ms. Gupta should withdraw.\u00a0 I’m sure President Biden can find someone at least equally pro-murderer but more honest.<\/p>\n

P.S.\u00a0 Although Gupta’s deceit alone requires her rejection, the absurdity and ideological warp of her recommendation in the Roof case isn’t far behind.\u00a0 Again, Paul nails it:<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

[Gupta’s argument] was preposterous. This is clear from the statement Loretta Lynch issued after Roof\u2019s conviction. She accurately described the facts as follows<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Roof conceived of his goal of increasing racial tensions throughout the nation<\/strong>\u00a0and seeking retribution for perceived wrongs he believed African Americans had committed against white people.<\/p>\n

To carry out these twin goals of fanning racial flames and exacting revenge, Roof further decided to seek out and murder African Americans because of their race.\u00a0An essential element of his plan<\/strong>, however,\u00a0was to find his victims inside of a church, specifically an African-American church, to ensure the greatest notoriety and attention to his actions.<\/strong><\/p>\n

As alleged, Roof set forth the evening of June 17, 2015 to carry out this plan and drove to the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina, known as \u201cMother Emanuel.\u201d Mother Emanuel was his destination specifically because it was a historically African-American church of significance to the people of Charleston, of South Carolina and the nation.<\/p>\n

On that summer evening, Dylann Roof found his targets, African Americans engaged in worship. Met with welcome by the ministers of the church and its parishioners, he joined them in their bible study group. The parishioners had bibles. Dylann Roof had his 45 caliber glock pistol and eight magazines loaded with hollow point bullets. And as set forth in the indictment, while the parishioners of Mother Emanuel were engaged in religious worship and bible study, Dylann Roof drew his pistol and opened fire on them, ultimately killing nine church members.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

(Emphasis added by Paul)<\/p>\n

Roof\u2019s mass murder spree wasn\u2019t just premeditated. Apparently, it was re-meditated. Roof said that the Blacks at the church were so welcoming to him that he reevaluated whether to kill them. He decided, again, to do so.<\/p>\n

***************************************************************************************************<\/p>\n

There is no plausible argument that extenuating factors outweigh aggravating ones in Roof\u2019s case. To conclude that they do would plainly contradict the view that\u00a0 —\u00a0 ready now?\u00a0 —\u00a0 Black Lives Matter.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

President Biden has nominated Vanita Gupta to be Associate Attorney General, the third highest position in the Justice Department.\u00a0 Gupta was Assistant AG for Civil Rights under Obama.\u00a0 As such, she was asked by the Attorney General, then Loretta Lynch, for a recommendation whether DOJ should seek the death penalty against the mass killer of black worshipers, Dylann Roof.\u00a0 Gupta recommended against it on the preposterous grounds that mitigating factors outweighed aggravating ones. She was asked about her role in making that recommendation at her Senate confirmation hearing.\u00a0 Instead of telling the truth, she did a fancy dance designed to mislead the Judiciary Committee.\u00a0 It was a deception worthy of a pickpocket, not someone who hopes to get a job overseeing the prosecution of criminals.\u00a0 For her flagrant deceit alone, she should be rejected (indeed, her nomination should be withdrawn).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[57],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3150","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-usdoj"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Dishonesty of Biden's Choice for No. 3 at the Justice Department - Crime & Consequences<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.crimeandconsequences.blog\/?p=3150\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Dishonesty of Biden's Choice for No. 3 at the Justice Department - Crime & Consequences\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"President Biden has nominated Vanita Gupta to be Associate Attorney General, the third highest position in the Justice Department.\u00a0 Gupta was Assistant AG for Civil Rights under Obama.\u00a0 As such, she was asked by the Attorney General, then Loretta Lynch, for a recommendation whether DOJ should seek the death penalty against the mass killer of black worshipers, Dylann Roof.\u00a0 Gupta recommended against it on the preposterous grounds that mitigating factors outweighed aggravating ones. 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