'Would Those Be Defamatory?': Mike Lee Grills Jennifer Sung On Controversial Kavanaugh Letter

by order of arrival ms sung i wasn't personally intending to ask you about the letter i was wanting to ask about other things some of your answers have been confused when you call someone an intellectually bankrupt ideologue who is intent on rolling back our rights and the rights of our clients you either mean that or you don't assume you would agree with me that if if you're speaking of someone that way and you don't believe that you don't have a reason to think that that would be defamatory would it not sorry thank you for the question senator as i stated i did not write those statements i take responsibility for signing the letter and i do recognize that they were overheated understand that i'm asking would those be defamatory if they were not true the deaf definition of defamation and the standards for defamation are complicated but they they vary depending on whether someone is a public figure they vary in terms of whether they were statements of fact and whether they can be proven or disproven it was in fact a sitting judge at the time you you made the statement and so it's not that you're pulling them from air you're purporting to have some knowledge of it it's not just that you said he was a morally bankrupt ideologue who would deprive people of rights he also said people will die if he is confirmed there's no qualifying language in there nothing's saying we fear that this might result in decisions which could in turn result in things that would be bad for people you called him quote a threat to the most vulnerable quote he is a threat to many of us simply because of who we are if you were saying that of someone and you didn't believe it was true and you didn't have a reason to make such a statement wouldn't that be defamatory respectfully senator their requirements for defamation would require statements of fact not mere rhetoric people will die if he is confirmed is that not a statement of fact it's not encouraged in language of opinion is not couched in any logical syllogism talking about how this might lead to things nor is it ambiguous to say that he is an intellectually and morally bankrupt ideologue intent on rolling back our rights and the rights of our clients so let's just start with that one wouldn't you agree that that's defamatory if not true i appreciate the question senator as i stated when i signed the letter i understood those statements to be rhetorical advocacy not statements of fact rhetorical advocacy is not a defense to defamation not a common law not under the law of any state with which i'm familiar can you tell me how that's relevant to my question respectfully senator as i stated before i did not consider those to be statements of fact i then okay so i i don't think it's a defense ever to a claim of defamation to say i didn't intend that as a statement of fact if in fact you're making statements of fact nor are these things just rooted in the ether you're not purporting to draw from them in the in the absence of any context you're drawing from it apparently in the context of his status as a then sitting judge on the u.s court of appeals for the dc circuit is that not itself undermining the legitimacy of the courts as an officer of the court is that the sort of thing you aspire to senator as i stated i do apologize if by signing that letter i created the impression that i don't respect the authority of the courts or any duly confirmed supreme court justice throughout my legal career as a litigator as an adjudicator and as a judge if confirmed i would respect the authority of every supreme court justice i have followed the court's precedence without reservation i have applied them as an adjudicator and i would continue to do so as a judge if confirmed when you describe his nomination as a threat to the most vulnerable and as creating an emergency um that tends inevitably to suggest that um you your confidence in him is so lacking that someone would be justified in doing anything they could to undermine his judicial authority i failed to see as i read this letter any caveat any reservation anything saying warning we don't really mean this and one of two things has got to be true either you didn't believe these things in which case you defamed him or you did believe this thing in which case i find it very difficult to believe that you're going to be able to respect his rulings as you will be bound to respect given that he's sitting on the supreme court of the united states and i'd add finally mr chairman i i i think it's important that we be able to ask these questions and uh people can have legitimate concerns about a candidate with with without having our motives questioned and without having our motives questioned particularly in the context or someone has questioned the motives of a member of the supreme court of the united states i find this troubling it's a troubling trend on the committee and it's not one that we should aspire to continue senator lee i believe the record will show that there have been ample

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Length: 6min 43sec (403 seconds)

Published: Sat Sep 18 2021