NYT: Dems Question Fund-Raising by Appeals Court Nominee

[Nambe]

William H. Pryor, the Alabama attorney general nominated to an appeals court judgeship by President Bush, has been opposed for several weeks by Democrats who say his opposition to legalized abortion and his calls for greater Christian influence in the law and government make him unfit for the bench.

Mr. Pryor's nomination was set for a vote today but was postponed after the Democrats raised a new issue that has little to do with his conservative views. They say Mr. Pryor may have been untruthful in answers to the committee about his role in soliciting political donations from tobacco, drug, energy and banking corporations that are often investigated by states and their attorneys general.

Mr. Pryor, nominated to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit in Atlanta, helped found the Republican Attorneys General Association in 1999 as a fund-raising arm of the Republican National Committee and went on to become the group's treasurer and then chairman.

According to documents discussed at a hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee today, Mr. Pryor — along with a handful of other Republican state attorneys general — had solicited tens of thousands of dollars in donations from corporations. Some of the money appeared to have then been redirected through a national Republican campaign committee to help Mr. Pryor in his election campaign. The documents from the Republican attorneys general group suggest that Mr. Pryor was able to benefit indirectly from those donations without having them traced to his solicitations. ---

Privatize bush It’s a Good Thing

[rocketdem]

1. "untruthful"?

Why the hell can't Democrats use the word "lie"?

Pryor lied. He lied under oath in testimony to congress.

And somehow there's a question as to whether this guy would be appropriate as a federal judge?

He ought to be disbarred and thrown out of his current office, not get a dramatic promotion.

[revcarol]

2. Mike Malloy: called him a shakedown thug

among other things.