Republicans were not given a chance to present an equal number of witnesses during the majority-ruled Democrat hearing of the Senate Justice Committee last Tuesday according to a report.
The Daily Caller reported that Senate sources confirmed and affirmed that the Republicans were refused to present three witnesses during the actual first hearing set on the Equality Act by the Senate Justice Committee.
Originally, the Republicans prepared three witnesses but only two were actually allowed. The two witnesses were the Ethics and Public Policy Center's Mary Rice Hasson and Wall Street Journal Writer Abigail Shrier.
The Daily Caller said the third should have been for a female athlete-related testimony to be given by Christina Mitchell but were denied to do so. The non-profit Alliance Defending Freedom through its unnamed representative told the Daily Caller that they actually prepared three female athletes (Selina Soule, Chelsea Mitchell, and Alanna Smith) and a mother of one of the female athletes to testify. Of the four prepared, it was the mother, Mitchell, who was supposed to be the actual witness lined up by the Republican senators for the hearing.
The Democrats brought to stand their third witness instead who is a transgender teenager. A Republican Committee aide, as per the Daily Caller, confirmed that the Democrats decided the Republicans can only present two of their witnesses.
"When the majority reviewed the list of three witnesses proposed by the Republican side, the Democrats decided the committee could only hear from two of them. That meant one person's testimony would be left out: the mother of a female athlete," the Republican aide said.
"Republicans were able to call two minority witnesses of their choosing-consistent with longstanding Committee practice--and they choose not to invite Kathy Mitchell as one of their witnesses. We cannot have one set of rules when Republicans are in the majority, and another set of rules when Democrats are in the majority."
The aide explained to the Daily Caller that other Senate Committees such as that of the Health's Education's, Labor and Pension's have balanced witness panels unlike the Justice Committee that is dominated by the Democrats. The aide was not able to provide any information as to why the setup with the Justice Committee is as it is now.
According to the Senate Website, the Senate Justice Committee is chaired by Illinois Senator Dick Durbin. The Majority comprise Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy, California Senator Dianne Feinstein, Rhode Island Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar, Delaware Senator Christopher A. Coons, Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal, Hawaii Senator Mazie Hirono, New Jersey Senator Cory Booker, California Senator Alex Padilla, and Georgia Senator Jon Ossoff.
The Daily Caller confirmed the Democrats did decide to limit the Republican's testimony through a copy of the memo they obtained on it. The said memo indicated that Mitchell's testimony was "declined" by the majority. Mitchell and the three teenagers prepared by the Alliance Defending Freedom were then ask to submit written testimonies instead.
According to the Daily Caller, Mitchell is the mother of Chelsea Mitchell, who together with the three teenagers, are involved in Alliance Defending Freedom's lawsuit "to challenge policies in which transgender or male athletes are allowed to compete in girls and women's sport. The idea to have Mitchell as witness, in fact, was to share how the Equality act impacted their lives negatively.
Alliance Defending Freedom legal counsel Christiana Holcomb told the Daily Caller that their clients "lost out on state championships, podium spots, and opportunities to advance in competition because they were forced to compete against biological males". She condemned the Democrats as "disgraceful" for their refusal to hear from her clients and the harm the Equality Act has done them.
Breitbart pointed out that Texas Senator Ted Cruz speaking about the Democrat's refusal during the actual hearing confirmed their sources. Cruz narrated that Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley asked for additional witnesses for the Republicans in the person of Cathy Mitchell but the "Democrat majority refused."
"They didn't want the American people to hear from Cathy Mitchell. To hear about the unfairness to little girls having girls sports destroyed because of the radical policies of today's Democrats," Cruz said.
