Thread by @jbendery

NEW: Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) calls out Republicans for racist treatment of Biden's judicial nominees.

"Demeaning, offensive and just plain wrong.” huffpost.com/entry/alex-pad…

“It’s not lost on me that nominees of color have been treated differently in our hearings,” Padilla told Republicans in a Judiciary Committee hearing today.

“Whether it’s insinuations of a ‘rap sheet’ or hostility about their qualifications or views."

It got a bit tense in this hearing.

It started with Padilla taking issue with the way Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) treated a Black judicial nominee, Andre Mathis.

She recently said she had concerns with him and referenced his “rap sheet" with "a laundry list of citations."

In fact, that "rap sheet" was related to three speeding tickets that Mathis didn't pay, from 10+ years ago.

One of those tickets was for going 5 miles over the speed limit. huffpost.com/entry/marsha-b…

That was Blackburn in Jan.

Padilla: “Let’s be clear: Mr. Mathis is not a career criminal or a violent felon, as the question implied. He has never been arrested or convicted of a crime.... Tones like what I heard during his hearing are demeaning, offensive & just plain wrong."

Padilla said Mathis "unfortunately isn’t the only nominee to receive this kind of treatment” and said his GOP colleagues -- who were sitting right there -- need to be “cognizant of this disparity” in the way they treat nominees of color.

Some Republicans got very mad.

Mike Lee said Padilla's claims were "grossly inaccurate, extraordinarily unfair + also of the very sort of comment that would incite people to anger, acts of retaliation and violence."

He didn't mention "rap sheet" tho. huffpost.com/entry/alex-pad…

Josh Hawley said he was "deeply disappointed" by Padilla's claims of racism.

Yeah, this Josh Hawley.

Patrick Leahy -- longest serving senator + former Judiciary chairman -- echoed Padilla, but was more diplomatic sounding.

“I worry about the charges made against some nominees, which seem to be, in some cases, thinly veiled charges because they are a woman or a person of color."

He was more blunt about GOPers treating women + people of color differently last fall.

“I’ve seen, in my years here, which is longer than anybody else’s...a disproportionate number of votes against women and people of color, especially women of color."

https://twitter.com/jbendery/status/1438151149111099398

Even Dick Durbin, the chairman, who generally tries to keep the peace in there, was blunt about this recently.

He told reporters that some of Biden’s court picks have been “more controversial than I anticipated” among Republicans.

Is there a theme?

"Assertive women of color.”

After more snipping and banter, the committed voted to advance Mathis' nomination to the full Senate for a confirmation vote.

Only one Republican voted yes: Sen. John Kennedy. huffpost.com/entry/alex-pad…