Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said Tuesday that it was “unseemly” to move quickly forward with the confirmation of Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch, given that President Donald Trump’s campaign is under investigation for its potential ties to Russia during the 2016 campaign.
“I’d like to point out that it is the height of irony that Republicans held this Supreme Court seat open for nearly a calendar year while President Obama was in office, but are now rushing to fill the seat for a President whose campaign is under investigation by the F.B.I.” Schumer said on the Senate floor.
“Even Rep. Nunes, the Republican chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said the investigation, confirmed yesterday by F.B.I. Director Comey, puts a ‘big gray cloud’ over this administration,” he continued. “You can bet if the shoe were on the other foot and a Democratic president was under investigation by the F.B.I., the Republicans would be howling at the moon about filling a Supreme Court seat in such circumstances.”
In fact, FBI Director James Comey confirmed that the bureau was investigating “the Russian government’s efforts to interfere in the 2016 presidential election,” including “the nature of any links between individuals associated with the Trump campaign and the Russian government, and whether there was any coordination between the campaign and Russia’s efforts.”
Comey refused to say whether Trump himself, or any individual affiliated with the campaign, was under investigation.
“It is unseemly to be moving forward so fast on confirming a Supreme Court justice with a lifetime appointment while this big gray, gray cloud of an F.B.I. investigation hangs over the presidency,” Schumer said.
