Blumenthal, other lawmakers confirm Gorsuch comments

President Trump said a U. S. senator distorted what Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch said about the president’s attacks on judges, even though administration officials and other senators confirmed the gist of Gorsuch’s comments.

“Sen. Richard Blumenthal, who never fought in Vietnam when he said for years he had ( major lie), now misrepresents what Judge Gorsuch told him?” Trump tweeted Thursday.

Blumenthal, D- Conn., a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which will conduct confirmation hearings on Gorsuch, said the Supreme Court nominee expressed dismay over Trump’s criticism of judges, including those involved in lawsuits against the administration’s travel ban from seven majority- Muslim nations.

“He certainly expressed to me that he is disheartened by the demoralizing and abhorrent comments made by President Trump about the judiciary,” Blumenthal said.

He stood by his account during a series of morning- show interviews, noting that White House officials confirmed it. “I am not about to try to explain the president’s tweets,” he told CNN.

Sen. Ben Sasse, R- Neb., said he specifically asked Gorsuch about Trump’s criticism of the “so- called judge” who ruled against his proposed travel ban, and the Supreme Court nominee gave an answer similar to one reported by Blumenthal.