[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 36 (Tuesday, March 4, 2014)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1267-S1268]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          ADEGBILE NOMINATION

  Mr. TOOMEY. Mr. President, I rise to speak on the nomination of Debo 
Adegbile to serve as Assistant Attorney General for the Justice 
Department's Civil Rights Division.
  Some Americans may vaguely recall Mumia Abu-Jamal from the ``Free 
Mumia'' T-shirts and posters that once cluttered college campuses.
  Maureen Faulkner will forever remember him as a cold-blooded cop 
killer who left her as a widow at age 24.
  Maureen Faulkner has endured three decades of endless appeals and a 
dishonest international campaign to turn her husband's killer into a 
celebrated icon for some on the radical left.
  Now one of the lawyers who helped promote that campaign, Debo 
Adegbile, has been nominated to lead the Justice Department's Civil 
Rights Division. This cannot stand and I hope the Senate will not 
confirm him.
  Let's review the facts.
  At 3:51 a.m. on December 9, 1981, 25-year-old police officer Daniel 
Faulkner pulled over a car in the city of Philadelphia. The car's 
headlights were off, driving the wrong way down a one-way street.
  The driver exited the car and began assaulting Officer Faulkner. The 
driver's brother, Mumia Abu-Jamal, was watching from across the street. 
Four eyewitnesses saw Abu-Jamal race across the street, shoot Daniel 
Faulkner in the back, and while Officer Faulkner was lying helplessly 
on the ground, Mumia Abu-Jamal shot several more bullets into 
Faulkner's chest and face.
  Three other witnesses heard Abu-Jamal brag that he had shot Daniel 
Faulkner and hoped that Faulkner would die.
  During the trial, when Daniel Faulkner's bloodstained shirt was 
displayed, the jury saw Abu-Jamal turn in his chair and smirk at 
Officer Faulkner's young widow Maureen.
  So it was no surprise when a Pennsylvania jury took just 3 hours to 
convict Abu-Jamal of murder, and the next day 2 hours to sentence him 
to death.
  Instead of allowing Daniel Faulkner's young widow to grieve in peace, 
a group of political opportunists decided to use this case to further 
their own political agendas. They fabricated claims of racism. They 
spread lies about the trial and the evidence. They organized rallies 
that, amazingly, portrayed Mumia Abu-Jamal as the victim.
  Before long, Abu-Jamal was a cause celebre, complete with adoring 
Hollywood celebrities, ``Free Mumia'' T-shirts and posters. He had his 
own HBO special, and they even named a street after him in Paris.
  In 2009, 27 years after Daniel Faulkner's murder, the NAACP Legal 
Defense Fund, or LDF, decided they would join the fray.
  For decades before Mr. Adegbile assumed his leadership role in the 
LDF, the LDF served as a force for truth and justice for all 
Americans--a very important and well-deserved reputation for having 
done that. But, unfortunately, LDF's representation of Abu-Jamal 
promoted neither truth nor justice.
  It is important to point out this is not a case about every accused 
person deserving a legal defense. That is a principle upon which I hope 
there is no disagreement, certainly not from me. The fact is, though, 
Abu-Jamal had multiple high-cost lawyers already volunteering their 
time.
  Mr. Adegbile was director of litigation for the LDF. He told the 
Senate Judiciary Committee that he ``supervised the entire legal 
staff'' at LDF--18 lawyers. Also, he was, in the words of the LDF's own 
Web site, responsible for LDF's advocacy ``both in the courts of law 
and in the court of public opinion.''
  This is important to understand because this duty to supervise has 
very specific implications for lawyers. A lawyer must confirm that the 
lawyers he oversees are honest while presenting facts in a case. The 
law backs this up. Supervising lawyers can be sued for malpractice or 
sanctioned by a court for the actions of the lawyers he or she 
supervises.
  And how did the LDF's lawyers comport themselves under Mr. Adegbile's

[[Page S1268]]

direction and leadership and supervision? Well, under Mr. Adegbile's 
oversight, LDF lawyers promoted the pernicious myth that Abu-Jamal was 
an innocent man and that he was framed because of his race.
  There was never any merit to the claims of racism. That was a 
conclusion that was investigated and reached by both State and Federal 
courts.
  In fact, the jury that convicted and sentenced Abu-Jamal to death 
included two African Americans and would have included one more except 
that Abu-Jamal himself ordered his lawyer not to seat that third juror.
  Yet, in February of 2011, Mr. Adegbile's group issued a press release 
stating that ``Mumia Abu-Jamal's conviction and death sentence are 
relics of a time and place that was notorious for police abuse and 
racial discrimination.''
  In May of 2011, two of the lawyers supervised by Mr. Adegbile 
traveled to France. They went there for a rally on behalf of Mumia Abu-
Jamal.
  One LDF lawyer said she was ``overjoyed'' that Abu-Jamal's death 
sentence was suspended, but she bemoaned the fact that Abu-Jamal would 
not have a new trial and so could not be set free.
  The other LDF lawyer described Abu-Jamal as one of the ``people who 
are innocent'' but ``will continue to be put to death in America.''
  At another event in New York City that same year, a lawyer working 
for Mr. Adegbile gushed, ``It is absolutely my honor to represent Mumia 
Abu-Jamal.'' She continued: ``there is no question in my mind, there is 
no question in the mind of anyone at the Legal Defense Fund, that the 
justice system has completely and utterly failed Mumia Abu-Jamal'' and 
that failure ``has everything to do with race.''
  I agree that the justice system has failed. But it has failed Officer 
Danny Faulkner and his family.
  No one understands this story of injustice better than Officer Danny 
Faulkner's widow Maureen. Maureen Faulkner pleaded with the Senate 
Judiciary Committee for a chance to tell her story, for a chance to 
testify before the committee as they were deliberating the candidacy of 
Mr. Adegbile. But the Senate Democrats on the committee would not allow 
her to testify. They did not let her tell her story and, instead, they 
voted to send his name on to the Senate floor for confirmation.
  I think Maureen Faulkner has a right to be heard. So I hope my 
colleagues will listen as I read a letter she wrote addressing all of 
us:

       Dear Senators,
       While I would have preferred to do so personally, I'm 
     writing this letter appealing to your sense of right and 
     wrong, good and evil as you consider the nomination of Debo 
     Adegbile to be the next head of the Civil Rights Division of 
     the Department of Justice.
       33 years ago my husband, Philadelphia Officer Daniel 
     Faulkner, was violently murdered by a self-professed 
     ``revolutionary'' named Mumia Abu-Jamal. I was 24 years old. 
     While most of my friends spent their summer at the Jersey 
     Shore, I sat in a hot steamy courtroom and watched in horror 
     and disbelief as the man who murdered my husband tried to 
     turn the courtroom into a political stage where he could spew 
     his hatred and contempt for this country and our judicial 
     system.
       At the moment my husband's blood stained shirt was 
     displayed by the evidence handler, Mumia Abu-Jamal turned in 
     his chair and smirked at me; demonstrating his contempt for 
     law enforcement. Thankfully, a racially mixed jury that was 
     selected by Abu-Jamal while representing himself, found him 
     guilty. The following day they sentenced him to death for the 
     brutal act he committed.
       That's when my second nightmare began. For three decades, 
     my family and I endured appeal after appeal--each rooted in 
     lies, distortions and allegations of civil rights violations. 
     And year after year, judge after judge, the conviction and 
     sentence were unanimously upheld. Then, thirty years after 
     the fact, my family, society and I were denied justice when 
     three Federal District Court judges who have found error in 
     every capital case that has come before them overturned the 
     death sentence.
       Today, as my husband lies thirty three years in the grave, 
     his killer has become a wealthy celebrity. He pens books and 
     social commentaries critical of our country. He regularly 
     uses his nearly unlimited access to the prison telephone to 
     do radio programs, has cable TV in his cell and is permitted 
     to hold his wife, children and grandchildren in his arms when 
     they visit.
       Old wounds have once again been ripped open and additional 
     insult is brought upon our law enforcement community in this 
     country by President Obama's nomination of Debo Adegbile. 
     While publicly demonstrating that he doesn't even know my 
     husband's name, Mr. Adegbile fains sympathy and caring for my 
     family and me.
       In reality, Mr. Adegbile was a willing and enthusiastic 
     accomplish in Mumia Abu-Jamal's bid to cheat us of the 
     justice we had waited so many years for. Mr. Adegbile freely 
     chose to throw the weight of his organization behind Mumia 
     Abu-Jamal and he has publicly stated that he would get Mumia 
     Abu-Jamal off death row.
       Mr. Adegbile holds Mumia Abu-Jamal, a remorseless 
     unrepentant cop killer, in high esteem. We know this because 
     attorneys working under Mr. Adegbile's supervision have stood 
     before public rallies held in support of my husband's killer 
     and openly professed that it was ``an extreme honor'' to 
     represent the man who put a hollow based bullet into my 
     husband's brain as he lay on the ground, wounded, unarmed and 
     defenseless. And while Mr. Adegbile and those who support his 
     nomination will undoubtedly argue that he did not personally 
     make such statements, he did nothing to counter or stop them.
       In the end, like so many attorneys before him, Mr. 
     Adegbile's allegations of civil rights abuse rang hollow. 
     Mumia Abu-Jamal's death sentence was overturned not because 
     of civil right abuse as alleged by Mr. Adegbile, but because 
     three judges with a personal dislike for capital punishment 
     conveniently determined that the wording in a standard form 
     given to the jury might have confused them.
       While Debo Adegbile may be a well qualified and competent 
     litigator, through his words, his decisions and his actions, 
     he has clearly and repeatedly demonstrated that he is not the 
     best person to fill this important position. Certainly there 
     are others with similar qualifications that would be better 
     choices. I would argue that Mr. Adegbile's decision to defend 
     a cop killer should preclude him from holding any public 
     position.
       Your decision means a lot to me personally. The thought 
     that Mr. Adegbile would be rewarded, in part, for the work he 
     did for my husband's killer is revolting.
       Throughout my long ordeal I have frequently been labeled a 
     racist by many who support my husband's killer simply because 
     he is black and I white. I have also been asked to throw my 
     name, my voice and my support behind political candidates 
     from both parties. In each case I have declined. I have 
     always believed that my husband's death and my quest for 
     justice transcends politics and race.
       From my heart, I'm asking you to do the same thing. Set 
     aside any partisan feelings you have and do the right thing 
     today when you vote on Mr. Adegbile's confirmation. Please 
     spare my family and me from further pain.
       Sincerely, Maureen Faulkner.

  As the Justice Department's Web site explains, the Civil Rights 
Division of the Justice Department ``fulfills a critical mission in 
upholding the civil and constitutional rights of all individuals.'' 
Clearly, this requires that the head of the Civil Rights Division have 
an absolute commitment to truth and justice. There are many highly 
qualified Americans who can carry out this critical mission. Mr. 
Adegbile's record creates serious doubts that he is among them. For 
these reasons, I urge my colleagues to oppose the nomination of Mr. 
Debo Adegbile to serve as Assistant Attorney General for the Justice 
Department's Civil Rights Division.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. WHITEHOUSE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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