Democrat Wants DOJ Memo That Could Show Trump's Judicial Pick Lied To Senate

Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) asked the Department of Justice on Wednesday to provide him with an internal document that could prove one of President Donald Trump’s picks for the federal bench lied to the Senate about his role in an effort to intimidate African-American voters.

Thomas Farr, who Trump tapped for a lifetime seat on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina, served as a lawyer for the campaign of then-Sen. Jesse Helms (R-N.C.) in 1990. Shortly ahead of Election Day, the Helms campaign and Republicans sent out more than 100,000 postcards targeting African-Americans in the state. The postcards gave incorrect information about voter qualifications and falsely told voters that when they went to vote, they would have to tell polling officials how long they’d lived in their precinct. The postcards also said election fraud could be punished by up to five years in jail. The Department of Justice sued the campaign and the Republican Party, charging them with violating the Voting Rights Act. The parties eventually settled the case with a consent decree.