MORGANTOWN – Sen. Shelley Moore Capito spoke to members of the West Virginia press Thursday about her recent trip to Germany and Poland and her meeting with Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson.
Capito was one of 10 senators from both parties to meet military leaders and German leaders in Germany about security issues as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine continues, to visit a refugee processing center near the Poland-Ukraine border and to meet with members of a Ukranian civil society who pleaded for more U.S. and NATO help.
“Putin is a war criminal,” she said, trying to break the will of the Ukrainian people. “The human tragedy of this whole thing is just ridiculous. The message from them was, ‘We need more help and we need it now,’ and that was the message we brought home.
Capito took a question from The Dominion Post on what can be effective against a Russian leader with no concern for consequences or his own people.
Putin overestimated his army’s ability to quickly conquer Ukraine, she said. The Ukrainian people have pledge to fight to the death to preserve their freedoms but they need the lethal and military assistance the U.S. and NATO is providing.
The economic sanctions and NATO unity can bring pressure to Putin. But nobody really believes that just because he looks bogged down that he will give up or that he will be satisfied to just retreat.
She shares the concerns about Putin turning to chemical and nuclear weapons. Referring to President Biden’s current NATO meetings in Brussels, she said, “We’ll see what comes of the meetings with the president.” But she hopes the sanctions and the losses from the plodding war will help the Russian people will sour on their leader, if they haven’t already.
She doubts the efficacy of diplomacy when Putin “just wants to destroy and conquer,” she said answering a related question.
Seeing the situation first-hand in Europe, she said, brought home points she might not have perceived as clearly in D.C. “The urgency of aide and assistance and support is very much felt.”
And, “The American military is just something to behold,” in terms of its dedication and technology and willingness to help NATO.
She saw the willingness of Poland to accept two million refugees – more than the population of West Virginia. “That really strikes you when you’re on the ground and see it for yourself.
Capito also took a question from The Dominion Post about Jackson and her judicial philosophy.
She said, “I am concerned about her judicial philosophy. … It’s a little hard to pin her down and I find that a bit frustrating.”
Her chief concerns lie in the area of executive overreach and how Jackson would handle that.
“I don’t want an activist judge that will overturn either the will of Congress in favor of an executive or be favorable toward an executive that maybe has the same political philosophies that the judge might have.” Either could have big impacts, she said.
She also responded to a question about the increasing incivility and partisan trench warfare that have characterized recent hearings of Supreme Court nominees.
“These are accomplished individuals, all of them,” she said. “We should be treating them with respect. … The era of the gotcha question, I wish it would just go away. … We’ve got to right this ship.”
She said, though, that the Jackson hearings have been better than the Kavanaugh hearings.
Tweet David Beard @dbeardtdp Email dbeard@dominionpost.com
