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REVEALED: Real reason why John Cornyn is attempting to block Vanita Gupta’s confirmation as associate AG

Twitter uncovers Texas Senator awarded 'lawman of the year' to cop that Gupta exposed for being a serial human rights violator

Texas Senator John Cornyn has been strongly opposed to Biden's pick for Assistant Attorney General - Vanita Gupta. Gupta's past anti-Republican comments and tweets seem to be the main cause of concern among Republicans, but Cornyn's opposition seems to be more vocal than his colleagues. In a series of tweets, Cornyn attacked Gupta's nomination, calling her 'race-obsessed' among other things.

But is there a bigger conspiracy afoot? Some Twitter users believe so after MSNBC reporter Rachel Maddow uncovered a past link between Cornyn and Gupta. The shocking report reveals that it's not just Gupta's past tweets that are a problem for Cornyn, but a particular policeman who Cornyn overlooked but was exposed by Gupta. Is an embarrassment over the past haunting Gupta's nomination? It seems likely.

Watch the video here

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After the shocking report was aired during Maddow's show on MSNBC, users took to social media to attack Cornyn over his obstruction. Here's a look at the full story.

Cornyn awards racist policeman

In 1999, Cornyn who was at that time the Attorney General of Texas awarded the Texas Department of Public Safety’s 1999 Outstanding Lawman of the Year award to Officer Tom Coleman. The award was for Coleman's undercover investigation of drug dealing in a small town of Tulia between January 1998 and July 1999. Coleman's investigations lead to 46 arrests and 38 convictions, so naturally, Cornyn may have felt he was worthy of the praise.

The only issue? Many of those arrests were completely false, leading to Coleman being convicted on a charge of perjury in 2005. Coleman had no proof of drug dealing, no audio or video surveillance and no large amounts of drugs or money were ever recovered. Yet, an overwhelmingly large number of African-Americans, reportedly around 10% of Tulia's residents, were arrested and jailed as a result of his 'investigation'. The real truth was uncovered by Vanita Gupta, who was a civil rights attorney at the time.

Gupta managed to uncover the full story - Coleman was a 'racist' cop who had falsely arrested and made-up charges against everyone arrested. In 2003, all those arrested were released from jail and Coleman was arrested, on a separate charge of stealing. In 2005, a jury found him guilty of one count of aggravated perjury and he was sentenced to 10-year probation. It wasn't just the investigation though, Coleman's racist past went far deeper. His wife admitted Coleman was "a card-carrying member of the Klu Klux Klan" and he had also admitted to using the N-word, according to several reports. 

Cornyn was left red-faced after it came to light he had awarded a cop for a fake investigation and false convictions. Gupta was able to get full pardons from then-Governor Rick Perry for 35 of the defendants and a $6 million settlement. Maddow highlighted that story in her latest show, raising questions over Cornyn's obsession with Gupta's confirmation. 

"I wonder, I just wonder if Sen. John Cornyn might be at all embarrassed about this and about the young lawyer who came to Texas and exposed this thing, this terrible and cartoonishly evil thing that he had helped along, that he had celebrated, that he had given an award to," Maddow said. Of course, Cornyn has not mentioned Coleman or the Tulia story since, but that hasn't stopped many social media users from raising the same questions as Maddow. 

Social media users call Cornyn 'a vindictive little man'

Within minutes of Maddow's expose, Internet users attacked Cornyn over his past and praised Maddow for uncovering the truth. "Thank you for the GREAT STORY on Vanita Gupta. She will make an amazing Associate Attorney General. I live in Texas and know that John Cornyn is a vindictive little man, but thank you for telling other Americans the story on how bad he was as Texas Attorney General 1999-2002," one user tweeted. Another user joked, "Cornyn upping his game, chasing Ted Cruz for 'Most Hated Senator from TX' award."

One user said, "After watching @maddow and her story about Vanita Gupta & John Cornyn, it reinforces the fact that the Republican party has never been on the side of the American people. The only difference is that they no longer hide it like they did back then." Another tweeted, "Thank you MSNBC for exposing Senator John Cornyn of Texas and his vindictive position on the nomination of Vanita Gupta. He is the textbook example of why the GOP should never come to power again. He is a shallow person and a disgrace to the office of Senator."

"And what is John Cornyn doing to slow down and stop Vanita Gupta’s confirmation. And why? Because of the pie in the face situation he had in Tulia, TX years ago. Sour grapes? Meanness of spirit?" another asked. One user commented, "@maddow I don't think Cornyn is ashamed. I think he is angry those Black people were released and their cases overturned. As AG of the state, once he saw there was no evidence, he should have stopped everything right then. He was complicit. @JohnCornyn is just as bad."

Cornyn has so far refused to comment on this story. He has also not brought it up, and instead targeted Gupta's stance on defunding the police and other matters. "She has avoided answering questions, or as in the case of her testimony here in front of the committee, she's completely, 180 degrees — taken a 180-degrees position different from what she has on a previous occasion," he said. He also called Gupta, "The potential of being the most dangerous nominee to the Department of Justice". 

Despite Republican stonewalling, Democrats plan to push ahead with the vote to confirm Gupta. Democratic Senator Dick Durban has also published a letter slamming Republicans for their opposition. He wrote, "Not a single one of you expressed any concern for four years of the Trump administration when Republican nominees routinely responded in the same way".  

This article contains remarks made by social media users and individual organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support any claims being made online.