Cotton warns that 'every cop in America should be terrified' of Biden DOJ nominee

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Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., told Department of Justice Civil Rights Division nominee Kristen Clarke at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Wednesday that, based on her history of "jumping to conclusions" when it comes to the use of force by police, "every cop in America should be terrified" of her confirmation. 

The senator pressed her on whether Jacob Blake was armed when the 29-year-old Black man was shot last year by police in Kenosha, Wisconsin. The shooting led to violent riots throughout the city. After a few tries, Cotton got Clarke to "agree with the factual statement" from reports that Blake indeed had a knife on his person.

Cotton noted that at the time of the Kenosha shooting Clarke had repeatedly said on social media that Blake was "unarmed."

"Here's my concern," Cotton said. "It's one thing to run a left-wing advocacy organization and always jump to conclusions... But you are going to have the power of the federal government behind you, and based on your pattern of comments and jumping to conclusions without evidence, every cop in America should be terrified if the DOJ is going to jump to a conclusion when they have to make a split-second decision to defend themselves or to defend law-abiding citizens."

TOP SENATE JUDICIARY DEM BACKS DOJ CIVIL RIGHTS DIVISION NOMINEE KRISTEN CLARKE AMID RESURFACED PAST COMMENTS

Clarke, a former federal prosecutor, told Cotton that he had her commitment that if confirmed, she would "follow the facts and the law." She also told lawmakers on Wednesday that she is opposed to the Defund the Police movement. But Sen. Cotton said he didn't buy it for a second. 

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, didn't believe her statement either, pointing to some of her past controversial writings.

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Senators concerned with Clarke's nomination also grilled her about her published comments on race. In an op-ed that appeared in the Harvard Crimson when she was a student at Harvard University in 1994, Clarke argued that Black people were superior. Pressed by Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, Clarke said that the piece was meant to be "satirical."