Von Spakovsky: Sen. Scott–You’ve Misjudged Tom Farr, and Here’s Why

Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) made a mistake recently when he announced that he wouldn’t vote to confirm Tom Farr for a federal district court slot in North Carolina. This was after Scott voted in favor of cloture for Farr, which advanced his nomination to the floor for an actual vote, in a 50-50 tie that had to be broken by Vice President Mike Pence. The actual vote on the confirmation has not yet been scheduled, but Scott should reconsider his decision. It’s clear that Scott has been deceived by the slanderous, false charges being made against Farr by activist, left-wing lawyers who want to stop his confirmation. In a statement announcing his opposition, Scott said it was due to Farr’s involvement in a “controversial postcard campaign” by the 1990 Jesse Helms senate campaign, and an internal 1991 Department of Justice memorandum that described what happened and recommended a lawsuit against the Helms campaign for violating the Voting Rights Act. The facts, however, do not show that at all. As Farr accurately told the Senate Judiciary Committee, he had no involvement in the controversial postcard campaign. The June 19, 1991 DOJ memorandum was about postcards sent to voters in predominantly minority