"You Can't Even Acknowledge A Fact That's Been Established By The Courts"

The United States Congress certified... Sir, you are showing cowardice, and that's the question. Are you going to choose the truth or Trump? Law or his lies? Are you going to choose the Constitution or cowardice? Yes, you can do. In any other administration, this hearing would be straightforward. We'd be discussing antitrust law, competition, consumer welfare. But this is not a normal administration. This is an administration where the president has repeatedly treated the powers of government as instruments to reward those who help him and punish those who oppose him. We've seen companies attack because of their news coverage. We've seen the president weigh in on mergers before independent review was even conducted. We've seen companies seeking government approvals, simultaneously resolving private disputes with the president himself, paying him millions of dollars. We've seen law firms, universities, and corporations pressured after becoming presidential targets. We've seen career public servants sidelined after refusing political demands. Again and again, the message has been the same, Mr. Candu. Please the president, and the government will work for you. Cross the president, and the government may work against you. That is exactly why the independence of the antitrust division matters even more. You said to me in our private meeting, this is about consumer protection. It's about competition. It's about free and fair markets. But we know it's not about that in the antitrust division. The facts are plain. Gayle Slater and two of her deputies followed the facts and the law and brought suit to block the HPE Juniper merger. When Trump-aligned lobbyists went over their heads, they secured a sweetheart deal. And Gayle Slater, who objected to the settlement, was fired. In the Stanley Woodard and Todd Blanche, who would be your bosses, cleared a $111 million Paramount Warner merger without any conditions at all. Staff who reviewed the transaction before they could even issue a formal recommendation, they were going to recommend blocking the merger. You can even look at the Live Nation Ticketmaster. Career attorneys were in federal court alongside a bipartisan coalition of state AGs fighting that massive dominance of that venue ticketing conglomerate when senior DOJ officials bypassed them and negotiated a backdoor deal after the president met with the CEO. This is why it's important for us to know, will you follow the facts and the law? Will you listen to career staff? Or are you going to follow the dictates of a president who's shown over and over again that he's going to abuse his position to influence the law? So everything comes down to a simple question. It's not a matter of whether you know antitrust law. It's whether you have the courage to tell this president no when it's hard. So let me make this easy. Show us your courage. Show us your independence. Be a man. Be your own man right now and stand up and answer a question yes or no. A simple yes or no question that shows right now all of America that you're your own man. I don't need legalese. I don't need trickery. Yes or no. Did Joe Biden win the 2020 presidential election? Yes or no? The United States Congress. Oh, there you go. Sir, stop. Federal courts said he did. President's own attorney general said yes. President's own cybersecurity director said yes. Republicans all over this country said yes. And right now you're not showing me. You can't even acknowledge a fact that's been established by the courts, the president's own attorney general, by his own election security officials. Why should we believe that you're going to stand up to this president when billions of dollars are at stake and the fate of mergers are in your hands? This is the pivotal question. Can you please tell me a yes or no answer? Tell me no. I can't give you a yes or no answer if that's your answer. Yes or no. Did President Biden win the 2020 elections? Sir, you are showing cowardice. And that's the question. Are you going to choose the truth or Trump? Law or his lies? Are you going to choose the Constitution or cowardice? Let me ask you one final question to maybe bring this into light and show me that you're your own man. I'm asking this very simply. Show me or tell me one time, one time, one single occasion, publicly or privately, where you pushed back against this president. One time after he suggested that government decisions should be guided by his personal political interests. Can you tell the American public? I know you and your wife probably don't agree on 100 out of 100. I have a litany of things I disagree with Biden and Obama on. Give me one thing that you thought the president United States has done that you think is wrong, untoward, corrupt, policy disagreement. One thing for the American public. Here's your chance. Show me you're your own man. I've always in my government capacity, and I look forward to doing so to make all my decisions according to law and the facts. Mr. Sir, stop, stop. This is a game. This is really a game. American people have the right to be concerned that this president, through the facts of the Antitrust Committee, is going to use his power to influence you in your job. I'm not asking you to come out against the president. I'm not asking you to go against the truth. I've given you opportunities here to show us in the easiest questions possible that you're your own man. And you haven't given me one shred of evidence that you can stand up and choose the truth over Trump, the law over lies, the Constitution over his continued corruption. I'm disappointed. I was looking for one thing to show independence. You told me in my office I will be independent. And this is disappointment that you can't give me one example of you differing with a person that most American knows, most of America knows, has lied repeatedly in his office, has taken on policies that have been detrimental to the independence of the judiciary. And I'm not going to support your nomination.