Chris Van Hollen: “I wish to voice my disappointment that Mr. James Ho was confirmed to serve as a judge on the Fifth Circuit. While at the…”

“I wish to voice my disappointment that Mr. James Ho was confirmed to serve as a judge on the Fifth Circuit. While at the Department of Justice, Mr. Ho wrote a memo that the George W. Bush administration used to greenlight the CIA's use of torture. Furthermore, Mr. Ho's comments on campaign finance reveal a common thread among Trump judicial nominees that I find particularly disturbing. Mr. Ho argued that some of the detainees held by the U.S. at Guantanamo were not protected under the Geneva Convention. The memo Mr. Ho wrote allowed the CIA to use interrogation techniques banned by the Geneva Convention that caused the death of a detainee. The interrogation techniques Mr. Ho claimed were legal were ineffective and their use hidden from lawmakers. As my colleague Senator McCain said when he introduced an amendment to reaffirm our government's prohibition on torture in 2015, ``Our enemies act without conscience. We must not.'' I am also deeply concerned by Mr. Ho's radical views on money in politics. Mr. Ho has said, ``For truly radical but effective reform, we must reverse course and abolish all restrictions on campaign finance.'' The overwhelming majority of Americans, both Republicans and Democrats, disagree strongly with Mr. Ho and believe that unlimited, unattributable amounts in money in politics corrupts our political system. Our political finance systems has been flooded with secret, corporate money since the 5-4 ruling in Citizens United. Mr.…”