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Amy Barrett flaunts blank pad to show she faced grilling without taking notes, Internet says 'sham hearing'

Barrett, who faced questions over her views on abortion rights, healthcare, and the peaceful transfer after the presidential elections, was lauded as unflappable by many conservatives

Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett fielded questions from Democrat senators during her conformational hearing before holding up a blank note pad to show that she did it without any notes. Barrett, who faced grilling questions over her views on abortion rights, healthcare, and the peaceful transfer after the presidential elections, was lauded as unflappable by many conservatives during the hearing.

The 48-year-old judge refused to be drawn on her personal views on these issues and consistently insisted that she would decide cases "as they come." Barrett's confirmation hearing comes just days before the presidential elections as Republicans are rushing to install a 6-3 majority in the Supreme Court after the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg. President Donald Trump nominated Barrett, a mother of seven, as Ginsburg's replacement last month.

The judge, during her confirmation hearing on Tuesday, October 13, was asked by Senator John Cornyn at one point on how she prepared for the questioning as he noted that most of the senators sitting had piles of notes in front of them. The Republican senator said: "Can you hold up what you’ve been referring to in answering our questions? Is there anything on it?" Barrett replied by holding up a blank notepad, saying it just had the "the letterhead that says United States Senate" on it. This resulted in some chuckles from the Senate Committee on Capitol Hill while Senator Cornyn said: "That's impressive."

Some social media users, however, were not happy with Barrett showing a blank piece of paper, with one writing: "Amy Covid Barrett keeps a blank pad in front of her to remind herself not to say a word about anything: she holds the American people and government in contempt. How Republican." Another wrote: "Amy Coney Barrett studied for her Senate exam. That’s about it for her qualifications for a lifetime appointment on the Supreme Court. She’s not ready. I was offended by her showing a blank note pad. Most serious people do take notes." A third wrote: "I had my own pad. I wanted to use it to write down any useful information that Amy Coney Barrett offered. Funny, my pad was blank, too." Another said: "The parlor trick that ACB didn't have notes isn't cute nor is it 'impressive' as Cornyn suggested. A blank pad means it's a sham hearing, she knows they have the votes, bc Lindsey said they had the votes before she was announced as a nominee."

President Donald Trump appeared pleased with Barrett's performance during the hearing as he said while leaving the White House for a rally: "I think Amy's doing incredibly well."

The judge, on October 13, refused to pledge that she would recuse herself if a dispute over the presidential election on November 3 came before the Supreme Court. She insisted that although Trump had nominated her for the position, she would not allow herself "to be used as a pawn to decide this election for the American people." Barrett, during the 12-hour session, mostly evaded the Democratic senators' efforts to pin down her views on the Affordable Care Act, abortion rights, gay marriage and a possible election-related case. The judge consistently argued that she she might view issues differently as a sitting justice regardless of her history of taking conservative stances on legal writings. “I have not made any commitments or deals or anything like that,” she told the Senate Judiciary Committee. “I’m not here on a mission to destroy the Affordable Care Act. I’m just here to apply the law and adhere to the rule of law.”