WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, questioned Brian Benczkowski, nominee to be an Assistant Attorney General in the Criminal Division of the Department of Justice. Also being questioned today were Ralph R. Erickson, nominated to be the United States Circuit Judge for the Eighth Circuit, Dabney Langhorne Friedrich, nominated to be the United States District Judge for the District of Columbia, and Stephen S. Schwartz, nominated to be a Judge of the United States Court of Federal Claims.

“There is a disturbing trend across the Trump Administration, across several agencies, of nominating people whose main qualifications are personal or political loyalty, and who seem to have troubling or sometimes undisclosed ties with Russia, and I am struggling with the timing of [Mr. Benczkowski’s] representation,” said Senator Coons.

“Mr. Benczkowski, what do you make of the President's recent public statements expressing a lack of confidence in the Attorney General?” said Senator Coons. “He's described him as beleaguered, he's questioned his prosecutorial priorities, he's continued to, in my view, harass the Attorney General- does that raise concerns for you about the ability of the Department to operate independent of political interference?”

Full audio and video available here.

Senator Coons’ remarks and Q&A, as delivered, are below:

Senator Coons, opening remarks: Thank you Chairman Grassley and I’d like to thank you at the outset for the way you've conducted this hearing and many other proceedings in this committee. In this particularly difficult time, and when other committees are struggling to function in a partisan way, I respect the way you've provided opportunities to question and the opportunity to investigate thoroughly the troubling representation of Alfa Bank by one of the nominees today, which I'll get to in moment. I just want to welcome all three nominees. Thank you and your families for your public service previously and going forward, and while I wish I had time to question all three of your thoroughly, I will mostly focus on the matter that's occupied many of my colleagues. If I might, Mr. Benczkowski, I have concerns that the Attorney General has been violating the scope of his recusal; I have questions about it, as I referenced in our private meeting. If you were confirmed, what would you do to ensure that no one in the criminal division communicated with your former boss, Senator Sessions, now Attorney General Sessions, regarding the ongoing Russia investigation?

Mr. Benczkowski: I think I would make it clear on day one, Senator, that any such communications with the Fifth Floor and the Office of the Attorney General would be forbidden. That said, I don't know, as I said here today, under what circumstances I might, or the Office might learn of anything that was going on in Special Prosecutor Mueller's investigation, but I would make it clear from day one that no such communications with the Office on the Fifth Floor of the Justice Department, including with the Attorney General, should occur.

Senator Coons: Ms. Friedrich, you served in the White House Counsel's Office during another politically charged time, and I'm concerned about the independence of the Justice Department and its ability to operate free from political interference. Could you just briefly comment on how important that independence is institutionally over a long period of time?

Ms. Friedrich: It is critically important that the Department of Justice function independently from the White House, and as Mr. Benczkowski discussed, there are very clear rules about communications between the White House and the Department of Justice, and this happens only at the very high levels, and that's in order to protect the Department of Justice and its independence.

Senator Coons: Thank you.  I see it as essentially important too. Mr. Benczkowski, what do you make of the President's recent public statements expressing a lack of confidence in the Attorney General? He's described him as beleaguered, he's questioned his prosecutorial priorities, he's continued to, in my view, harass the Attorney General- does that raise concerns for you about the ability of the Department to operate independent of political interference?

Mr. Benczkowski: Senator, as you know from my service to this committee and with Jeff Session, I've known him for quite some time, believe him to be a man of integrity, who cares deeply about the institutional independence of the Department. I think he goes to work every day doing his dead level best to protect that independence and those sorts of comments are painful and difficult for me to hear.

Senator Coons: Well, I too am concerned about what it indicates about the President's state of mind and his intentions with regard to the Department. We talked about your previous experience at senior levels at the Department, about your lack of criminal prosecutorial experience your lack of any experience in prosecuting criminal trials, and you said you recognize that it creates a blind spot for you. How do you plan to oversee the prosecution of the most important criminal matters in our country having rarely appeared in the court room and never as a criminal prosecutor?

Mr. Benczkowski: Senator, thank you for that. The Criminal Division is a big place, 700 lawyers, thousands of support staff, and investigators. Seventeen sections. Being the Head of the Criminal Division in the first instance is principally a management and leadership job, and as I said previously, this would be my sixth such job at the Department. One of the things I've learned in the course of those previous positions is how important it is to consult, and listen to the career lawyers in the Department-

Senator Coons: I hope you will consult with them, forgive me, I’ve got just a minute left. My larger concern as a number of folks have said, you've got senior experience in the agency, you've got professional experience, but there is a disturbing trend across the Trump Administration, across several agencies, of nominating people whose main qualifications are personal or political loyalty, and who seem to have troubling or sometimes undisclosed ties with Russia, and I am struggling with the timing of your representation. I appreciate the opportunity we had to talk about the details of it, but I remain hung up on it. So let me ask a last question: you mentioned that attorneys from your team and Stroz Friedberg met with the FBI regarding the investigation and Alfa Bank but you didn't participate out of an abundance of caution. What were you concerned about, and who did you consult? Did you consult the Ethics Committee at your firm, the general counsel of your firm, or consult the model rules of conduct? What were you concerned abut and how did you act on that?

Mr. Benczkowski: I was concerned at that point that my participation in that meeting, should I be nominated ultimately to head the Criminal Division, could somehow be seen as there being a conflict. And I didn't think that for the client, again as a lawyer in private practice, my concern was for the client, and what that would mean for the client. So I stepped away. This was in part a concern about appearance down the road, but it was really out a concern that the communications between the client, its representatives, its lawyers, lawyers at Stroz Friedberg and the government be seen as pristine at that point.

Senator Coons, closing remarks: I appreciate that answer. I hope you can appreciate that the timing of your very senior role on the transition team, your representation of Alfa Bank and some of these unresolved question, have raised a great deal of concern for many of us, despite your previous experience here, and your long record for public service in other roles, and I think we have unresolved questions which I'll submit for the record as well. Thank you to all three of the nominees today.

###