Senator John Cornyn’s History With DOJ Nominee Vanita Gupta Explains Opposition

By Nikki Slusher

To nobody’s surprise congressional Republicans have adamantly pushed back on President Joe Biden’s nominees from Merrick Garland for Attorney General to the latest Department of Justice nomination, Vanita Gupta. Everyone undoubtedly expected the resistance; however, the motives for Texas Sen. John Cornyn’s opposition to Gupta seem to run back to 2003. Putting it into simpler terms, Gupta basically humiliated the then Texas AG Cornyn leading to a grudge that is still apparently being held onto.

The case involved was regarding a Texas officer, Tom Coleman, who had arrested over four dozen people claiming that the undercover investigation led to busting the individuals for cocaine. Ultimately, most of the individuals were convicted with some receiving sentences over 100 years. Then-AG John Cornyn awarded Officer Coleman with Lawman of the Year Award.

But that is not where the story ends. Then- AG Cornyn’s “Lawman of the Year” had a history of extensive corruption. Those arrested by Coleman’s sting operation were overwhelmingly Black; and even more notable, out of all four dozen defendants, none had any proof of this alleged cocaine operation actually happening. Literally, there was not one single piece of evidence, no recordings of the alleged drug sales. Nothing. Nada. Zip. In fact, the defendants were only convicted by the courts based off of Officer Coleman’s testimony.

Queue Civil Rights attorney Vanita Gupta’s debut into the story. Gupta took on the case, and by 2003 all the people that were initially charged were released. Even better was that Officer Coleman, a known racist whose frequently uses the N-word, was charged with perjury along with a number of other indictments. Obviously Cornyn’s award-winning corruption superstar’s fall from fame is something still haunting the Senator’s thoughts. Clearly, he is ready to continue defending a bigoted racist rather than the Constitution and law he swore an oath to.

The Judicial Crisis Network, a conservative group that’s known for its efforts to lobby to confirm conservative judges, also launched an attack campaign in an attempt to eliminate Gupta’s nomination. The Judiciary Committee ended in a deadlock vote yesterday with an 11-11 vote split between party lines, however, Gupta is still on track to be confirmed with the expected support of moderate Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin (WV). Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) will utilize procedural steps to move Gupta’s nomination forward to the Senate floor. b The Judiciary Committee did advance Lisa Monaco’s nomination for Deputy Attorney General by voice without any opposition.

If confirmed, Vanita Gupta will hold the number three leading official rank in the DOJ as Associate Attorney General. Also, every law enforcement agency and operations has endorsed her nomination. Republicans against her confirmation, including Sen. Cornyn, had begun demanding for Gupta to come back to redo her confirmation hearing a second time. They can shit in one hand and wish in the other to see which fills up faster.

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