Patrick Leahy: “I am sure Judge Paez had no interest in being assigned that case or the case against a former Member of Congress…”

“I am sure Judge Paez had no interest in being assigned that case or the case against a former Member of Congress, Republican Representative Jay Kim, or any other high-profile case. I suspect any judge who has a pending confirmation would be delighted to avoid such high-profile cases, but they follow the rules. If the machine comes up and says ``you are assigned,'' then that judge hears that case. Judge Paez ought not continue to be penalized for doing his job in ruling in those assigned cases. There is no allegation--no credible allegation, no believable allegation, no factual allegation, no whisper of an allegation--outside this Chamber that he did anything to obtain jurisdiction over those matters. None whatsoever. That ought to settle this matter once and for all. It is the same as buying a lottery ticket and having the machine pick the numbers for you. It is done automatically. He did not win the lottery on this because he did not want a high-profile case, but he did his job, the job he was sworn to do. We ought to do the job we are sworn to do and vote up or down on these two people and not, as some have suggested, have a vote to suspend indefinitely. That is the Senate saying: Notwithstanding we are being paid to vote yes or no, we decide to just vote maybe. Let's vote up or down.”