Durbin Delivers Opening Statement In Judiciary Subcommittee Hearing On Censorship
During his remarks, Durbin slammed President Trump and his MAGA allies for attempting to rewrite history, with one witness claiming the January 6 insurrectionists were merely “grandmas touring the Capitol”
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today delivered an opening statement in the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution hearing entitled “The Censorship Industrial Complex.” During his opening statement, Durbin condemned President Trump and his MAGA allies for attempting to rewrite the history of January 6, 2021, with harmful rhetoric, including one of today’s witnesses having previously said that the insurrectionists were merely “grandmas” on a tour of the Capitol. Durbin listed several insurrectionists who President Trump pardoned and their criminal backgrounds and recent offenses—highlighting that they were anything but “grandmas” touring the Capitol.
Key Durbin Quotes:
“The First Amendment protects the freedoms of religion, speech, press, assembly, and the right to petition the government. These five freedoms form part of the bedrock upon which our Constitution is based. But the First Amendment is under attack by President Trump and his MAGA allies. Instead of bolstering free speech in America, President Trump has sought to use his executive power to punish his perceived opponents and those whose speech he disagrees with.”
“In two short months, his targets have included the press… universities, students, and law firms. These attacks on free speech and association have a chilling effect and signal to others that if they don’t fall in line with the Trump Administration’s preferred views, they could be next. If [you] care about the First Amendment, these actions should trouble you. We all need to take notice and stand up to protect our rights.”
“After the end of World War II, somebody asked Winston Churchill, ‘how do you think history will treat you?’ He said, ‘it’s going to be just fine. I know that because I will write the history.’ We saw that happen then and we saw the Soviet Union go through a revision of history regularly if there was some event that they perhaps did not want reported as factual. I fear that is what is going on today when it comes to the January 6 riot in the U.S. Capitol, particularly by one or two of the witnesses at the table.”
“You [the witnesses] are meeting here today safe [and] peaceful because of the men and women in uniform who are risking their lives at this very moment for you and me. What happened on January 6 to [the] 140 of these men and women in uniform protecting this Capitol? They were beaten unmercifully by a mob and several died afterwards. That is a fact. The facts should also be realistic too. [The far right] wants to characterize the event on January 6 as the ‘riot used to launch the war on wrongthink.’ What is ‘wrongthink?’”
“The same person that used the term ‘wrongthink’ went on to say that ‘law enforcement resources were better allocated to not treating grandmas wandering the Capitol grounds like Jihadists.’ Let me tell you about the ‘grandmas’ that [were] released by the full, unconditional pardon of Donald Trump. Here’s one you should remember: Andrew Taake—arrested since he was pardoned by President Trump in Leon County, Texas, on an outstanding charge of online solicitation of a minor. He had been sentenced to more than six years in prison for assaulting officers using a dangerous weapon while at the Capitol, having deployed bear spray on Capitol police officers, and hit one officer with a metal whip.”
“Here’s another ‘grandma’: David Daniel, awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty to assaulting police officers on January 6. His case was dismissed by the Department of Justice after President Trump’s pardon. Daniel is facing pending charges in North Carolina for production and possession of child pornography, which allegedly involved a prepubescent minor and a child under age 12.”
“Peter Schwartz, sentenced to 14 years in prison for assaulting police officers, another ‘grandma,’ during the attack on the Capitol. A former girlfriend [of Peter] has voiced concern for her safety after Schwartz was released without any of the typical restrictions for a violent offender. He was previously charged and convicted for threatening his girlfriend and has been described by prosecutors as ‘one of the most violent and aggressive participants in the January 6, 2021 attack.’”
“So, we are going to rewrite history now? These were ‘grandmas’ on a tour of the Capitol on January 6? Like hell it was. I was there. For the men and women that risked their lives for me, I owe a debt of gratitude [that] I can’t express at this point. That is rewriting of history and a corruption of speech. We should not allow it to occur.”
Video of Durbin’s opening statement is available here.
Audio of Durbin’s opening statement is available here.
Footage of Durbin’s opening statement is available here for TV Stations.
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