The Jolt: SCOTUS hearings allow Judge Jackson and Jon Ossoff to share their story

News and information from the politics team at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The hard part is over for Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson after she made it through two long days of sometimes-contentious questioning during her Supreme Court nomination hearing.

Those tough exchanges were prompted by Republican members who are not fans of Jackson but also know that the meetings provide a national platform with which they can share conservative message points.

But Democrats know that, too. Their members, including Georgia Sen. Jon Ossoff, used their time to not only show support for Jackson between the barrage of GOP attacks and positive counterpoints.

New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker’s impassioned and encouraging remarks to Jackson went viral Wednesday night and brought her to tears.

Georgia U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock isn’t on the Judiciary Committee, so he wasn’t able to speak during the hearings, but he attended Wednesday as a show of support.

But let’s go back to Ossoff, considered one of the Democratic Party’s national stars. He had over an hour of speaking time over the last three days, first during Monday’s opening remarks and then on Wednesday with a 30-minute block of questioning in the morning and 20 more minutes in the evening.

He used much of that time to allow Jackson to share more of her personal story and philosophy on constitutional issues.

Prompted by Ossoff to talk about the rights of the accused to a public defender, a job Jackson once held, she said it was an important role in the judicial process.

“The work of a judge is to look at the facts and circumstances, hear the arguments of the parties, apply the law and make a fair determination,” she said. “And so having lawyers for criminal defendants aids in that process and benefits us all in our criminal justice system.”

Ossoff also revealed parts of himself during the hearings.

The question about public defenders allowed him to talk about the bill he proposed to create a federal defender’s office in the Southern District of Georgia. And in a question about freedom of religion, he spoke about his family’s history facing persecution for being Jewish.

“My great grandparents came to this country fleeing anti-Semitism in Eastern Europe,” Ossoff said. “Many American stories, including many of the very first American stories, involve flight from religious persecution,” he said.

Jackson responded by saying free exercise of religion is foundational in America and part of its founding principles.

“It was people who fled from religious persecution and wanted to found a country in which everyone could believe what they wanted to believe and not have the government encroach on, impinge on, burden that right,” she said. “... And your family story is very similar to many families who moved to this country for that reason.”

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When Wednesday’s chaplain of the day began his remarks with a story about his college days in a fraternity, he may have inadvertently set the tone for the day’s Senate business – a frat house.

First, in what may have been the first appearance of beauty queens since the pandemic began two years ago, (almost exclusively male) senators lined up to take pictures with two pageant winners: Miss Georgia USA Holly Haynes and Miss Georgia Teen USA Courtney Smith.

Our AJC colleague Maya T. Prabhu said she hadn’t seen the smiles on senators that big since before the pandemic.

Then, during a presentation on House Bill 305 regarding massage therapy education, retiring Senate Rules Chairman Jeff Mullis couldn’t pass up the opportunity to fill his remarks with innuendo, though he hinted in an earlier Rules committee hearing that there was going to be a “performance.”

“This is not about a rub and tug,” Mullis said, shortly before state Sen. Matt Brass placed two bottles of lotion on the podium.

In response to a question about his favorite type of massage, Mullis replied, “I like to start at the feet and work my way up to other areas that might need attention.”

Mullis wrapped up his comments by calling the bill the massage therapy industry’s No. 1 issue “to make sure that things go well and that everybody has a happy ending.”

The bill passed 50-1. State Sen. Greg Dolezal, R-Cumming, was the lone no vote.

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UNDER THE GOLD DOME, Thursday, March 24:

  • 8:00 a.m.: Committees gavel in for a full committee work day;
  • The House and Senate are adjourned until 10:00 a.m. Friday.

***

Gov. Brian Kemp signed a bill Wednesday to give Georgians bigger tax refunds this year. The Ga Dept of Revenue will automatically credit taxpayers with a one-time refund of $250 for single filers, $375 for heads of households, and $500 for those married and filing jointly.

It’s just part of a tax cutting spree Republicans are leading this year with state coffers full, inflation rising, and an election on the horizon.

***

Herschel Walker weighed in on the war in Ukraine in an appearance on Fox & Friends Wednesday morning, a week after he seemed to suggest that NATO had not been involved in working to deter Russia’s invasion of the country.

Asked by Brian Kilmeade if the United States is doing enough to protect Ukraine from Vladimir Putin, he said it’s hard to tell.

“You know people are dying right now and you have a guy that is totally committing war crimes, but yet it’s continued to happen, and right now people are running for their lives.

“But yet, you see those brave patriots. They’re defending themselves, they’re defending their country because they want the liberties and freedoms that we have in this country right here, that we seem to want to give up.

“You know, we want to change the way we live here. And it’s like, God, this is the greatest country in the world. We’ve got to continue to fight to continue to have those liberties and freedoms we have here that we’ve had for a long time. We have our problems, but yet, we’re the greatest country in the world.”

He wrapped up the interview by reminding viewers to go to his campaign’s website.

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Donald Trump is making sure his top Republican allies, including Herschel Walker, can’t distance themselves from U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene.

A few weeks ago, Walker canceled his appearance at a Greene event after she spoke at a conference hosted by a white nationalist. Now the two are set to share the same stage at Trump’s rally in Commerce.

The former president released a list of scheduled speakers that included all seven of the Georgia candidates he’s endorsed, along with Greene and U.S. Rep. Andrew Clyde.

Expect Democrats to use the appearance to relentlessly connect Greene with Walker and other candidates through November.

We’ll also be closely watching the newest member of Trump’s Georgia slate, John Gordon, an unsuccessful state Senate candidate who entered the race for attorney general on the cusp of the qualifying deadline.

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President Joe Biden wants Herschel Walker off his fitness committee.

The White House asked Walker and Mehmet Oz, a Republican candidate for U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania, to resign from their posts with the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness & Nutrition or be terminated.

CNN reports the two were appointed in 2018 by then-President Donald Trump and reupped to a new two-year term in December 2020 shortly before he left office. A White House official said the Biden Administration has a policy of not allowing people to serve on presidential boards while they are running for federal office.

***

Former Gov. Nathan Deal is adding his voice to the chorus of leaders backing Speaker David Ralston’s mental health overhaul.

Though the measure passed the House with bipartisan support, it’s slowed in the Senate amid opposition from the far right.

Deal praised Ralston for pursuing “meaningful legislation that will truly improve the lives of suffering individuals across our state.

“Sandra and I watched this same determination and heart years ago when he helped lead Georgia to enact historic tax reforms, nationally-recognized transportation investment and comprehensive criminal justice reforms,” said the former governor, who served two terms.

Also speaking out on behalf of the proposal Wednesday was a coalition of the state’s largest hospitals and businesses, including Emory, Grady and Piedmont health care systems, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, AT&T, the Atlanta Chamber of Commerce, and the Georgia Chamber of Commerce.

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There’s a new pro-Brian Kemp outside group in town, but the organization has a long history behind it.

It got its start in May 2021 when GOP operatives Brad Alexander, Derrick Dickey, Mark Middleton and Chris Riley decided to form a conservative group to counter Fair Fight Action and other nonprofits linked to Stacey Abrams.

They named the group after a favorite Kemp phrase: Hardworking Georgians.

Separately, Kemp allies also planned to use a “leadership committee” with the ability to raise unlimited donations to boost the governor’s campaign against fellow Republican David Perdue.

But a recent federal judge’s ruling barred the special committee from spending money to help Kemp in the primary and forced the governor’s backers to change their tactics.

The pro-Kemp operatives formed Hardworking Georgians Action earlier this month to fill the void. The group is expected to spend at least $1 million to back the governor and answer attacks from the pro-Perdue Georgia Action Fund.

“During the 2018 election and throughout his time as governor, Brian Kemp has proven he is a fighter and our strongest nominee to stop Stacey again in November,” Dickey said. “Hardworking Georgians Action will be reminding Republican Primary voters to keep the main thing the main thing.

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In an item about a gift to Habitat for Humanity in Wednesday’s Jolt, we described the organization as founded by former President Jimmy Carter. Of course, Habitat was created by Linda and Millard Fuller and supported through the years by Carter. We regret the error and thank our Jolt readers for bringing it to our attention.

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The Dean of the Legislature, state Rep. Calvin Smyre, is wrapping up his final legislative session before heading to the Dominican Republic as U.S. Ambassador, pending his confirmation by the Senate.

Smyre was a guest on GPB’s Lawmakers Wednesday night reflecting on his nearly 50 years under the Gold Dome. It’s well worth watching the full interview.

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U.S. Rep. Andrew Clyde wrote and produced a music video that debuted Wednesday night during the House Republicans’ conference in Jacksonville.

Politico reports that the song, “Take Back the House” about flipping the chamber to GOP control, had members “cackling and applauding.”

Unfortunately, Clyde wasn’t featured in the video itself.

But it does refer viewers to a new website for Clyde’s campaign committee: QueenPelosi.com. The site focuses heavily on the Athens Republican’s lawsuit challenging fines he received for bypassing metal detectors installed outside the House chamber after Jan. 6.

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As always, Jolt readers are some of our favorite tipsters. Send your best scoop, gossip and insider info to patricia.murphy@ajc.com, tia.mitchell@ajc.com and greg.bluestein@ajc.com.

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