Subject: APPROVE: Grassley hit
From: "Helmstetter, TJ" <[email-masked]>
To: "Walker, Eric" <[email-masked]>, "Paustenbach, Mark" <[email-masked]>, "Miranda, Luis" <[email-masked]>, "Freundlich, Christina" <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 5 May 2016 08:42:12 -0700

To: LGBT list, Iowa list.

SL: The SCOTUS Pick Chuck Grassley's Been Waiting For

Last week, Chuck Grassley said it would be a "gamble<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/chuck-grassley-trump-supreme-court_us_57223b28e4b0f309baefffb3>" to let Donald Trump fill the Supreme Court vacancy. But it  seems Grassley has changed his tune. Yesterday<http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/politics/2016/05/04/grassley-trump-would-nominate-right-type-court/83948120/>, Grassley said Trump would nominate "the right type of people" and specifically cited Judge William Pryor as someone Trump might appoint.

Let's take a look at some of Judge Pryor's greatest hits:

*         Pryor called<http://www.al.com/news/index.ssf/2016/02/who_is_bill_pryor_donald_trump.html> Roe v. Wade "the worst abomination in the history of constitutional law."

*         Pryor opposes<http://www.prochoiceamerica.org/assets/files/courts-noms-pryor-report.pdf> abortion even in cases of rape or incest.

*         Pryor urged<https://www.congress.gov/congressional-record/2005/6/9/senate-section/article/S6245-2> Congress to repeal Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act.

*         Pryor was the only<http://www.pbs.org/now/politics/pryor.html> Attorney General in the nation to file an amicus brief to the Supreme Court arguing that the federal remedy for victims of sexual assault in the Violence Against Women Act was unconstitutional.

*         In 2005, Lambda Legal called Pryor "the most demonstrably antigay judicial nominee in recent memory<http://www.lambdalegal.org/news/ny_20050426_william-pryor-is-most-demonstrably-antigay-judicial-nominee>."

*         Editorial boards across the country denounced<http://www.nytimes.com/2003/07/23/opinion/an-extremist-judicial-nominee.html> George W. Bush's nomination of Pryor to the Eleventh Circuit.

"No one is more qualified to immediately serve on the Supreme Court than Chief Judge Merrick Garland. That Chuck Grassley refuses to give him a fair hearing or up-and-down vote is disrespectful. That Grassley is waiting for Donald Trump to fill the seat with a divisive extremist like William Pryor is downright shameful. Grassley and the Senate Republicans need to do their jobs and confirm Chief Judge Garland rather than playing political games that put our democracy's checks and balances at risk." - TJ Helmstetter, DNC spokesperson

TJ Helmstetter
Deputy Director of Regional and Specialty Media
Democratic National Committee
202.863.8022 - desk
973.464.9224 - cell
[email-masked]<mailto:[email-masked]>