Tillis Campaign Asks Hagan To Explain Why She Voted To Confirm Debo Adegbile | Eastern NC Now

    Wilmington, N.C. - President Obama's controversial Department of Justice nominee Debo Adegbile, who Sen. Kay Hagan supported, withdrew his nomination yesterday. Adegbile once defended Mumia Abu-Jamal, who was convicted of murdering a police officer.

    Sen. Hagan voted to confirm Adegbile in March, despite receiving direct pleas from North Carolina's law enforcement community to oppose the nomination. The Senate rejected Adegbile's confirmation on a bipartisan basis, with several Democrats opposing him due to his questionable background.

    The Tillis campaign today called on Kay Hagan to explain why she ignored the concerns of the state's law enforcement community and sided with President Obama as she has 96 percent of the time by voting for such a controversial Obama nominee.

    "It's time for Kay Hagan to explain to North Carolina why she sided with President Obama over our state's law enforcement community by voting to confirm Debo Adegbile," said Thom Tillis spokesman Daniel Keylin. "If Senator Hagan is willing to completely ignore North Carolinians by supporting such a flawed and controversial nominee, she should at least be willing to discuss her rationale for doing so. Her vote with President Obama for Adegbile is another example of how she has continually put the President ahead of what's best for the people of North Carolina."


    On March 5, 2014, Hagan Voted To Confirm Debo P. Adegbile. (On The Nomination Of Debo P. Adegbile, Roll Call Vote #48: Rejected 47-52, 3/5/14, Hagan Voted Yea)

    Mumia Abu-Jamal Was Convicted And Sentenced To Death For The Murder Of Philadelphia Police Officer Daniel Faulkner. "More than 30 years have passed since the Mumia Abu-Jamal was convicted and sentenced to death for the killing of Philadelphia Police Officer Daniel Faulkner. But the case remains an internationally-known political lightning rod. And, this week, lightning is striking in D.C." (Wesley Lowery, "Remember Mumia Abu-Jamal? He May Derail Obama's Pick For Top Civil Rights Post," The Washington Post's The Fix, 3/4/14)

    Adegbile, Obama's Nominee To The Department Of Justice's Civil Rights Division, Previously Worked For The NAACP's Legal Defense Fund, Which Helped Abu-Jamal Get His Death Sentence Overturned. "The latest incarnation of the Abu-Jamal trial comes as it threatens to derail the nomination of Debo P. Adegbile, President Obama's nominee to head the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division. He previously worked as legal counsel to the NAACP's Legal Defense Fund, which helped Abu-Jamal get his death sentenced overturned and has represented him at various points since." (Wesley Lowery, "Remember Mumia Abu-Jamal? He May Derail Obama's Pick For Top Civil Rights Post," The Washington Post's The Fix, 3/4/14)

    Democratic Senator Chris Coons of Delaware Voted Against Adegbile And Called His Efforts To Defend Abu-Jamal, "Great Disrespect For Law Enforcement Offices And Families." "The decades-long public campaign by others, however, to elevate a heinous, cold-blooded killer to the status of political prisoner has caused tremendous pain to the widow of a Philadelphia police officer David Faulkner and show great disrespect for law enforcement offices and families throughout our region. These factors have led me to cast a vote today that is more about listening to and respecting their concerns than about the innate qualifications of the nominee." (Sen. Chris Coons, Statement, 3/5/14)