Senate Democrats on the Judiciary Committee will skip a hearing on Wednesday held by Republicans about the alleged “cover-up” by ex-White House officials to shield former President Joe Biden’s supposed cognitive decline while in office, the Washington Examiner has learned.
Snubbing the hearing, designed by Republicans to offer a table-setter for ensuing GOP-led inquiries on the premise that Biden left office mentally unfit to serve, is part of a broader strategy by Democrats to ignore what they consider dubious political fishing expeditions by Republicans.
“We have so many important topics to consider, and this is a totally political undertaking by several of my colleagues,” said Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), the panel’s top Democrat. “It is a waste of the Senate Judiciary Committee’s time.”
A spokesperson from Durbin’s office confirmed that the senator will offer opening remarks and then leave.
“He does not plan to stick around to ask questions,” a spokesperson said. “At this time, I’m not aware of anyone on the [Democrats’] side planning to attend.”
Other Judiciary Committee Democrats, including Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), and Adam Schiff (D-CA), declined to comment whether they would participate. Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) cited scheduling conflicts with three other concurrent committee hearings.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) signaled he too was unlikely to attend, citing conflicting hearings and an unwillingness to give credence to an event Democrats derided as political posturing.
“I think the hearing is more performative and theatrical than anything else,” Blumenthal told the Washington Examiner. “I’m not super interested in going to it. It’s not an issue that really involves what I view as my job as a United States senator.”
Democrats declined to call witnesses for the hearing titled “Unfit to Serve: How the Biden Cover-Up Endangered America and Undermined the Constitution.”
Republican witnesses will include former first-term Trump administration officials such as Sean Spicer, former Trump White House press secretary and communications director; the Claremont Institute’s Theodore Wold, former acting assistant attorney general in the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Policy under Trump and former deputy assistant to the president for domestic policy; and the University of Virginia School of Law’s John Harrison.
The hearing will be led by Sens. John Cornyn (R-TX) and Eric Schmitt (R-MO). Republicans believe the forthcoming absences from Democrats are the latest examples of Biden’s party continuing to “turn a blind eye.”
“Clearly, even the Democrats can’t defend Joe Biden’s shadow presidency,” Schmitt told the Washington Examiner in a statement. “Tomorrow’s hearing is the first step in holding those responsible for the cover-up accountable and getting answers for the American people. It’s a shame Democrats are once again turning a blind eye and refusing to confront the truth — that Biden was unfit to govern, and those closest to him knew it all along.”
GOP RALLIES AROUND ESCALATING BIDEN INVESTIGATIONS AS PARTY FEUDS ELSEWHERE ON POLICY
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) chastised Republicans for being “unrelenting in diversionary actions,” accusing them of trying to divert focus from President Donald Trump’s tax and spending bill being debated by the GOP.
“It’s one of their many circus-like diversions that is a lot of sound and fury, signifying nothing,” Schumer told reporters, borrowing a line from William Shakespeare’s play Macbeth.