Jackson Purchase News

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered remarks on the Senate floor today concerning judicial nominations.

“I haven’t spared any breath calling attention to the parade of unfit nominees that the Biden Administration would like to see confirmed to lifetime seats on the federal bench,” McConnell stated.

McConnell specifically criticized nominees Adeel Mangi and Nancy Maldonado, citing Mangi’s "alarming connections to terrorist sympathizers" and Maldonado’s "record of staggering unproductivity in lower court."

He also highlighted another nominee, Sparkle Sooknanan, whose affiliations he claimed exemplify dark-money influence. “The Senate hears a great deal from our colleague, the junior Senator for Rhode Island, on the subject of dark money,” McConnell said. “But so far, I haven’t heard him express any concern that Sparkle Sooknanan... has secured the support of Robert Raben.”

McConnell described Raben as a "notorious shepherd of liberal nominees" with a client list including groups backed by figures such as George Soros and Arabella Advisors. He noted that Sooknanan had engaged in discussions with Raben and his associates after her nomination was announced.

“But this sort of contact – between liberal nominees and liberal handlers – doesn’t fit with Senate Democrats’ idea of dark-money influence as simply a conservative pastime,” McConnell argued.

He further questioned whether senior Judiciary Committee members had scrutinized Sooknanan's nomination with the same rigor applied to conservative organizers. He referenced criticisms from some Democrats regarding Sooknanan’s legal defense work related to Puerto Rico's creditors and her alleged comments during a conference call about election litigation efforts.

“It just doesn’t add up,” McConnell concluded. “Unless the real ledger being used is the one with liberal dark money from Robert Raben and Arabella Advisors.”