Hours after GOP leaders blocked Sen. Elizabeth Warren from reading a letter critical of Sen. Jeff Sessions during his confirmation hearing for attorney general, Sen. Jeff Merkley picked it up and read the document uninterrupted.
Coretta Scott King, the widow of Martin Luther King, Jr. and a Civil Rights activist herself, wrote the letter on March 19, 1986. It was an indictment of Sessions as he was up for an appointment to the U.S. District Court.
The letter was originally addressed to Sen. Strom Thurmond, then on the Senate Judiciary Committee, against Sessions' confirmation. He was not recommended to the Senate on a 10-8 vote.
Fast forward to Tuesday, when Warren attempted to read the letter aloud but was censured by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.
McConnell's silencing Warren drew sharp criticism across the internet while Merkley's move was met with applause.
Warren wasn't deterred. After she was censured, the senator from Massachusetts read the letter aloud on Facebook Live outside the Senate chambers.
The document was first discovered by Nathaniel Meyersohn, then at Buzzfeed and now at CNN, as Sessions was gearing up for another appearance in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee as Donald Trump's attorney general.
Democrats were incensed that McConnell kept Warren from reading the letter even though it was already in the Congressional record. That was a major part of New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker's testimony, which you can watch below:
--Eder Campuzano | 503.221.4344
@edercampuzano
ecampuzano@oregonian.com