(AP) Four men once held at the Guantanamo Bay detention center — men Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson never met — were central to some of the questions she fielded Tuesday during her Supreme Court confirmation hearing.
Jackson was asked repeatedly about the work she did over a decade ago for the men Republican lawmakers have described as terrorists and used to attack her record. Two senators alleged misleadingly that she’d called then-President George W. Bush and then-Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld “war criminals” in related legal filings.
The back-and-forth between the nominee and the senators was a throwback to the intense legal fights over terrorism and the lengths the government can go to keep the nation safe that erupted after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., at one point said Tuesday that he hoped the remaining detainees “die in jail if they’re going to go back and kill Americans.”
