Judge Amy Coney Barrett fired back at Sen. Amy Klobuchar on Wednesday on the issue of whether, if confirmed, she would recuse herself from a case pertaining to the 2020 election, should one arise.
The topic came up as the senator pressed the judge about the fact that she briefly worked on the Bush v. Gore case as did Justices Gorsuch and Kavanaugh.
"Having justices with this background…decide any cases related to the upcoming election, do you think that will undermine the legitimacy of the court?” Klobuchar asked.
Barrett refused to take the bait, responding that she appeared to be “trying to elicit a question about whether it would be appropriate for justices who participated in that litigation to sit on the case rather than recuse, and I went down that road yesterday saying it’s a legal question.”
“I know, you said you wouldn’t recuse,” Klobuchar jumped in.
Barrett interjected, “That isn’t what I said. I said I wouldn’t commit, I wouldn’t pre-commit.”
Sen. Amy Klobuchar tries to lie about Judge Barrett saying she would not recuse herself in the event that the Supreme Court would need to rule on the 2020 Election.
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) October 14, 2020
Judge Barrett quickly corrected the record: "That isn't what I said." pic.twitter.com/DS555qFw4a
On Tuesday, the judge responded to questioning about recusal from Sen. Patrick Leahy.
"I commit to you to fully and faithfully apply the law of recusal and part of that law is to consider any 'appearances' questions" — as in, even whether it might look to outsiders as though the judge couldn't be fair, Barrett said. "I can't offer a legal conclusion right now about the outcome of the decision I would reach."