(The above video is a combo with Cornyn, Jackson, and Durbin )

During today's Senate confirmation hearing for Supreme Court nominee Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, Sen. John Cornyn flat-out lied, stunning the judge, accusing her of calling then-president George W. Bush and then-Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld war criminals.

Sen. Cornyn asked, "Why in the world would you call Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld and George W. Bush a war criminal in a legal filing? Seems so out of character for you."

Judge Jackson was stunned, and asked what he was talking about.

Cornyn claimed, "When you represented a member of the Taliban and the Department of Defense identified him as an intelligence officer of the Taliban and you referred to [Rumsfeld and Bush] as war criminals."

Jackson replied, "Well, Senator, I don't remember that particular reference. I have to take a look at what you meant."

"I did not intend to disparage the President or the Secretary of Defense," Judge Jackson said.

Cornyn went on to bemoan the ramifications for a person who is deemed a war criminal.

The hearing broke for lunch.

After the lunch break, Chairman Durbin took the microphone and said after doing some research during the break, he had some news about Cornyn's assertion that Judge Jackson called Bush and Rumsfeld "war criminals."

Durbin said he noticed her surprise at the accusation, and noted he was surprised as well.

Then he said, "You were advocating on behalf of individuals who argued they were civilians, wrongly classified as enemy combatants of the United States, and your filing was part of your professional responsibility to zealously advocate for your clients. In those petitions, the individuals raised more than a dozen claims for relief, one of which was an allegation that the government had sanctioned torture against the individuals, which constituted war crimes under the Alien Tort Statute," he said.

Durbin continued, "The Alien Tort Statute allows courts to hear cases for alleged violations of the law of nations or the treaties of the United States. Apparently, this is what Senator Cornyn was referencing, so to be clear, there was no time where you called President Bush or Secretary Rumsfeld a ‘war criminal.’"

Judge Jackson smiled, "Thank you, that was correct."

In essence, Sen. Durbin proved Sen. Cornyn is a lying scumbag.