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President Joe Biden this week quietly renominated a Trump-selected federal judge whose law firm represented the oil behemoth Chevron in its yearslong legal assault on environmental and human rights attorney Steven Donziger.
Biden's renomination of Jennifer Rearden to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York--announced on the White House website Wednesday--garnered little attention in the corporate press, but it didn't escape the notice of watchdog groups, climate campaigners, or Donziger himself, who said Thursday that he was "outraged" by the news.
Rearden "was paid millions at [Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP] to help jail me, attack Indigenous peoples, and cover up a massive oil spill in the Amazon," said Donziger, who in 2011 won a multibillion-dollar settlement against Chevron over its devastating pollution of the Ecuadorian rainforests.
Chevron, which never paid the settlement, responded by launching a massive--and, according to critics, entirely unfounded and corrupt--legal campaign against Donziger that resulted in his prolonged and ongoing detention.
Related Content
'Huge Step Forward': Steven Donziger Transferred From Federal Prison to House Arrest
Trump originally nominated Rearden to the federal bench in early 2020 thanks in part to support from Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), but the lawyer's nomination expired at the end of that year after the Senate didn't act to confirm her.
In a statement announcing Biden's decision to re-up Rearden's nomination, the White House said that all of the president's judicial picks are "extraordinarily qualified, experienced, and devoted to the rule of law and our Constitution."
"These choices also continue to fulfill the president's promise to ensure that the nation's courts reflect the diversity that is one of our greatest assets as a country--both in terms of personal and professional backgrounds," the White House said.
Jamie Henn, director of Fossil Free Media, called the president's move "atrocious."
The nonprofit investigative outlet Sludgereported Thursday that "in her nomination questionnaire, Rearden explains that she has mainly represented corporations."
"Rearden's corporate clients have included Home Depot, Uber, Lehman Brothers, Barclays Capital, and Patriarch Partners," noted Sludge, which also spotlighted the lawyer's political donations to erstwhile Republican presidential candidates Chris Christie and Rudy Giuliani.
Rearden also has "deep ties" to Gillibrand, as The Intercept's Andrew Fishman reported in October.
"Gillibrand played a crucial role in the nomination of Rearden--who fundraised at Gibson Dunn for the senator's campaigns--to serve on the federal bench," Fishman observed. "In a sworn affidavit... Rearden stated that her yearslong road to the nomination began when she expressed interest to Gillibrand in one of many talks about the issue with the senator and her staff."
Even as a number of Democratic lawmakers have spoken out against Chevron's campaign against Donziger--a New York resident--Gillibrand has remained conspicuously silent on the matter.
"Sen. Gillibrand has refused for a long time to even investigate my unprecedented Chevron-orchestrated detention, much less speak out about it," Donziger told The Intercept. "Obviously, the senator's extensive connections to big-money donors with ties to Chevron might be affecting her decision to ignore what is an obvious human rights violation on U.S. soil involving one of her constituents."
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President Joe Biden this week quietly renominated a Trump-selected federal judge whose law firm represented the oil behemoth Chevron in its yearslong legal assault on environmental and human rights attorney Steven Donziger.
Biden's renomination of Jennifer Rearden to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York--announced on the White House website Wednesday--garnered little attention in the corporate press, but it didn't escape the notice of watchdog groups, climate campaigners, or Donziger himself, who said Thursday that he was "outraged" by the news.
Rearden "was paid millions at [Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP] to help jail me, attack Indigenous peoples, and cover up a massive oil spill in the Amazon," said Donziger, who in 2011 won a multibillion-dollar settlement against Chevron over its devastating pollution of the Ecuadorian rainforests.
Chevron, which never paid the settlement, responded by launching a massive--and, according to critics, entirely unfounded and corrupt--legal campaign against Donziger that resulted in his prolonged and ongoing detention.
Related Content
'Huge Step Forward': Steven Donziger Transferred From Federal Prison to House Arrest
Trump originally nominated Rearden to the federal bench in early 2020 thanks in part to support from Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), but the lawyer's nomination expired at the end of that year after the Senate didn't act to confirm her.
In a statement announcing Biden's decision to re-up Rearden's nomination, the White House said that all of the president's judicial picks are "extraordinarily qualified, experienced, and devoted to the rule of law and our Constitution."
"These choices also continue to fulfill the president's promise to ensure that the nation's courts reflect the diversity that is one of our greatest assets as a country--both in terms of personal and professional backgrounds," the White House said.
Jamie Henn, director of Fossil Free Media, called the president's move "atrocious."
The nonprofit investigative outlet Sludgereported Thursday that "in her nomination questionnaire, Rearden explains that she has mainly represented corporations."
"Rearden's corporate clients have included Home Depot, Uber, Lehman Brothers, Barclays Capital, and Patriarch Partners," noted Sludge, which also spotlighted the lawyer's political donations to erstwhile Republican presidential candidates Chris Christie and Rudy Giuliani.
Rearden also has "deep ties" to Gillibrand, as The Intercept's Andrew Fishman reported in October.
"Gillibrand played a crucial role in the nomination of Rearden--who fundraised at Gibson Dunn for the senator's campaigns--to serve on the federal bench," Fishman observed. "In a sworn affidavit... Rearden stated that her yearslong road to the nomination began when she expressed interest to Gillibrand in one of many talks about the issue with the senator and her staff."
Even as a number of Democratic lawmakers have spoken out against Chevron's campaign against Donziger--a New York resident--Gillibrand has remained conspicuously silent on the matter.
"Sen. Gillibrand has refused for a long time to even investigate my unprecedented Chevron-orchestrated detention, much less speak out about it," Donziger told The Intercept. "Obviously, the senator's extensive connections to big-money donors with ties to Chevron might be affecting her decision to ignore what is an obvious human rights violation on U.S. soil involving one of her constituents."
President Joe Biden this week quietly renominated a Trump-selected federal judge whose law firm represented the oil behemoth Chevron in its yearslong legal assault on environmental and human rights attorney Steven Donziger.
Biden's renomination of Jennifer Rearden to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York--announced on the White House website Wednesday--garnered little attention in the corporate press, but it didn't escape the notice of watchdog groups, climate campaigners, or Donziger himself, who said Thursday that he was "outraged" by the news.
Rearden "was paid millions at [Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP] to help jail me, attack Indigenous peoples, and cover up a massive oil spill in the Amazon," said Donziger, who in 2011 won a multibillion-dollar settlement against Chevron over its devastating pollution of the Ecuadorian rainforests.
Chevron, which never paid the settlement, responded by launching a massive--and, according to critics, entirely unfounded and corrupt--legal campaign against Donziger that resulted in his prolonged and ongoing detention.
Related Content
'Huge Step Forward': Steven Donziger Transferred From Federal Prison to House Arrest
Trump originally nominated Rearden to the federal bench in early 2020 thanks in part to support from Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), but the lawyer's nomination expired at the end of that year after the Senate didn't act to confirm her.
In a statement announcing Biden's decision to re-up Rearden's nomination, the White House said that all of the president's judicial picks are "extraordinarily qualified, experienced, and devoted to the rule of law and our Constitution."
"These choices also continue to fulfill the president's promise to ensure that the nation's courts reflect the diversity that is one of our greatest assets as a country--both in terms of personal and professional backgrounds," the White House said.
Jamie Henn, director of Fossil Free Media, called the president's move "atrocious."
The nonprofit investigative outlet Sludgereported Thursday that "in her nomination questionnaire, Rearden explains that she has mainly represented corporations."
"Rearden's corporate clients have included Home Depot, Uber, Lehman Brothers, Barclays Capital, and Patriarch Partners," noted Sludge, which also spotlighted the lawyer's political donations to erstwhile Republican presidential candidates Chris Christie and Rudy Giuliani.
Rearden also has "deep ties" to Gillibrand, as The Intercept's Andrew Fishman reported in October.
"Gillibrand played a crucial role in the nomination of Rearden--who fundraised at Gibson Dunn for the senator's campaigns--to serve on the federal bench," Fishman observed. "In a sworn affidavit... Rearden stated that her yearslong road to the nomination began when she expressed interest to Gillibrand in one of many talks about the issue with the senator and her staff."
Even as a number of Democratic lawmakers have spoken out against Chevron's campaign against Donziger--a New York resident--Gillibrand has remained conspicuously silent on the matter.
"Sen. Gillibrand has refused for a long time to even investigate my unprecedented Chevron-orchestrated detention, much less speak out about it," Donziger told The Intercept. "Obviously, the senator's extensive connections to big-money donors with ties to Chevron might be affecting her decision to ignore what is an obvious human rights violation on U.S. soil involving one of her constituents."
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Majority of Democratic Voters: Current Leaders Failing to Combat Trump, Defend Working Class
"This level of discontent is unsustainable for a party looking to build back in the wake of major losses—at a certain point, Democratic leaders will need to show voters that they are taking a stronger stance against Trump, or step aside for someone who will," Deiseroth added.
"This level of discontent is unsustainable for a party looking to build back in the wake of major losses."
The polling—released nearly five months after the election in which Democrats lost the White House and both chambers of Congress—shows that when asked how they would grade the Democratic Party on its response to Trump, who returned to power in January, 70% of voters said C or below, and 21% said F.
Voters were also divided in terms of who they see as the current leader of the Democratic Party. Former Vice President Kamala Harris, who lost the race for the White House in November, was at the top, but with only 17%. She was followed by former President Barack Obama and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), who tied at 15%.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) tied with "no one" at 11%, followed by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) at 9% and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) at 6%.
Sanders, who sought the Democratic Party's presidential nomination in 2016 and 2020, announced Friday that Ocasio-Cortez will join the Los Angeles stop of his "Fighting Oligarchy: Where We Go From Here" tour on Saturday—as she did across the U.S. West last week, drawing the biggest crowd of either of their careers at a rally in Denver, Colorado.
"Today, the oligarchs and the billionaire class are getting richer and richer and have more and more power," Sanders said Friday. "Meanwhile, 60% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck, and most of our people are struggling to pay for healthcare, childcare, and housing. This country belongs to all of us, not just the few. We must fight back."
The new polling makes clear that voters want elected officials to fight back in a variety of ways, including legal challenges, media appearances, voter registration drives, letter-writing and phone-banking campaigns, procedural tactics like the filibuster, supporting worker walkouts, consumer boycotts, mass protests—including at government buildings—and disrupting Trump campaign events.
Voters are specifically disappointed with Schumer: 61% said he isn't doing enough to fight Trump. After being told about the Senate majority leader's decision earlier this month to lead a group of 10 caucus members who helped Republicans pass a stopgap spending bill, 51% said Democrats in the chamber should choose a new leader—and if they did, 66% of voters would want "someone who fights harder against Trump and the Republican agenda."
A large majority of voters of all ages want elderly Democratic Party leaders "to retire and pass the torch to the younger generation." Big majorities also want party leadership to be diverse in race and gender, and to prioritize funding for programs addressing issues such as healthcare and housing, even if it increases the national deficit.
As the party battles Trump and rebuilds after November's devastating losses, voters are stressing that Democrats must emphasize how they will fight for the working class. Large majorities urged them to focus on taking on corporate interests and the Democratic establishment, taxing the wealthy, lowering prices, and "laying out a bold, progressive agenda for economic and political reform."
The Data for Progress polling follows an internal survey conducted earlier this month by Our Revolution, the progressive political organizing group launched as a continuation of Sanders' 2016 presidential campaign. That survey of 9,024 members found that nearly 90% of respondents believe Schumer should step aside as Senate minority leader and 86% would support a primary challenger for his Senate seat, should he refuse to step aside. Calls for Ocasio-Cortez to primary him have mounted throughout the month.
"These survey results point to an undeniable crisis of confidence in Chuck Schumer and Democratic leadership at a time of unprecedented executive overreach and corporate takeover of the American federal government," Joseph Geevarghese, the executive director of Our Revolution, said at the time. "It's time to step up or step down."
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