Specter, Tough Questioner of Hill, Calls Thomas a Letdown
Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), who is waging a reelection fight fueled by controversy over his interrogation of Anita Faye Hill at Clarence Thomas’ Supreme Court confirmation hearings last year, says he is disappointed with Thomas’ court performance.
Specter, replying to a question at a campaign rally Tuesday in Pittsburgh, said he was especially disappointed with Thomas’ dissent in a recent high court case involving the beating of a manacled prison inmate.
Thomas was one of the dissenters in a decision that found that the beating of the prisoner violated the constitutional ban against cruel and unusual punishment.
Specter’s Democratic challenger, Lynn Yeakel, who rode anger over Specter’s questioning of Hill to an upset victory in her party’s Senate primary last April, on Wednesday was quick to accuse Specter of a campaign conversion.
“Arlen Specter provided the pivotal vote which put Clarence Thomas on the Supreme Court, and now in a transparent display of election-year enlightenment he has criticized Thomas for a ruling which might have been anticipated by his prior record,” she said.
Specter’s press secretary, Dan McKenna, denied that Specter’s comment was politically motivated.
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