Josh Hawley keeps getting fact-checked for his QAnon adjacent smears of Ketanji Brown Jackson
The Senate Judiciary Committee is set to take up President Joe Biden's appointment of Judge Katanji Brown Jackson to the United States Supreme Court on Monday morning.
In the lead-up to the hearing, Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) keeps getting fact-checked for his attacks on the appeals court judge, who confirmed to her latest position in June on a 53-44 vote with Republican Senators Susan Collins (R-ME), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) joining Democrats in voting yea.
An Associated Press fact-check said Hawley's "less-serious child pornography offender" smear did not "stand up to scrutiny."
"She opined no such thing. She asked questions about it," the AP explained. "From those questions, Hawley extrapolated that Jackson had drawn conclusions, when she hadn’t."
Hawley received Three Pinocchios in a fact-check by The Washington Post. And he was fact-checked by CNN.
"Sen. Josh Hawley, perhaps best known for his fist pump in support of Capitol protesters shortly before the Jan. 6 riot, spouted dangerous and misleading allegations this week about Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson. And the allegations hew closely to claims we’ve heard from QAnon conspiracy theorists," Ja'han Jones wrote for MSNBC.
Ian Millhiser of Vox also zeroed in on Hawley's argument being QAnon adjacent.
"Hawley’s broad allegation is false," he wrote. "It’s also a stunningly inflammatory charge, reminiscent of conspiracy theories such as QAnon or Pizzagate, which posit that prominent liberals are part of a vast ring of pedophiles. Similarly incendiary claims have inspired violence in the past, such as when a man with an assault rifle opened fire in a DC pizza restaurant in 2016. The man was apparently motivated by his unfounded belief that Hillary Clinton and her former campaign chair John Podesta ran a child sexual abuse ring in the basement of this pizzeria."
Jackson's hearing is scheduled for 11 a.m. eastern on Monday with opening statements. Questioning of Jackson is planned to begin at 9:00 a.m. eastern on Tuesday, with each member of the Judiciary Committee getting 30 minutes.