Confirmation Hearing: Rpryor03 for Attorney General

[Sestak]

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[Sestak]

Nominee has 24 hours to make an opening statement, then we'll proceed to questioning.

[rpryor03]

Mr. President,

Members of this Senate,

Thank you for the honor of appearing before you twice today. This one, for the position that takes precedence, will be delivered first.

I am rpryor03, and for those of you who might not know me (which is a number of you, hopefully), I have served Atlasia in various ways since my first election to the Northeast Assembly since 2014. Since then, I have served in multiple positions, including Northeast CJO, Deputy Attorney General, Game Moderator, Secretary of Federal Elections, Emergency Commissioner of Fremont, and Vice President of this great nation.

My life, both in America and Atlasia, is focused around service. I have sought to use the skills that I have been given to serve others - and this includes Atlasian law. I have crafted it, I have enforced it, I have argued it, and I have archived it, which I see as the four primary roles of the Attorney General.

I have crafted Atlasian law in my legislative roles - from two regions to the Senate, I both wrote and debated the bills that mostly do not exist anymore, excepting some Fremontian statutes during my term in the Parliament of Fremont. For example, I chaired the Commission on Electoral Reform which proposed a Constitutional Amendment that while it failed, served as a precursor to the reform movement that sprung up in mid-2015. As Attorney General, I will advise the Executive Branch on legal matters, including creating laws and helping them to implement their policy goals.

I have enforced Atlasian law during my time as CJO and Secretary of Federal ELections - I have sought to enforce and follow the laws set out by the Constitution, in statute, or in executive orders.

I have argued Atlasian law before the Supreme Court multiple times on various issues. If needed, I would be more than willing to represent this nation in Court.

I have archived Atlasian law (more about that in a bit) as Deputy Attorney General. A project I took on was caring for the Wiki, updating the Statutes, something which seems to have gone undone for the current Congress. I also will do the same with the Supreme Court, ensuring that all opinions set out by the Court are also summarily archives. It is vital that all our law and legal scholarship are archived for the future of this country.

Also, I wanted to talk about activity briefly. I just signed in a few hours ago. I messaged a friend to see what they thought I could do - I suggested maybe helping out with the Wiki. That became National Archivist. And then that became Attorney General. This is my commitment. I'm not playing 4 or 5 forum RPGs like I used to during high school. This is what I want to do and this is how I want to serve Atlasia at this time. Thank you for this honor, and I look forward to your questions.

[Lumine]

I wouldn't want to meddle with Senate procedures - although I seem to be doing that lately -, but I did want to step in and state that I believe this is an excellent appointment and I hope it results on the confirmation of someone who I think would make a stellar Attorney General.

Back when I was President I had the privilege of appointing Rpryor as Deputy Attorney General ("Wiki Secretary"), and it was one of the choices I never regretted, not once. He ably updated the Wiki, was recognized by his diligent work even by the opposition, chaired investigations and game reform options, and argued before the Supreme Court with skill during the epic tenure of Zuwo as Attorney General. I have no doubt he has the necessary skill to lead the Justice Department with great ability.

[At-Large Senator LouisvilleThunder]

As a member of the House of Representatives, I wish to voice some concerns and ask some questions for the sake of maintaining transparency with the people.

I am concerned about the administration selecting somebody to fill the office of Attorney General, which has been vacant for nearly two months, who has not been active in the game for well over a year and has only re-registered today. Rpryor, are you willing to assure the country that you are fully committed to serving the people of today's Atlasia?
Also, who is the friend that you messaged regarding your return to Atlasia? Was there any sort of patronage deal made in order to secure your appointment to these offices?

In a question to the President: why have you kept the office of Attorney General vacant for nearly two months, and why did you appoint Rpryor within minutes of him re-registering?

[YE]

As a member of the House of Representatives, I wish to voice some concerns and ask some questions for the sake of maintaining transparency with the people.

I am concerned about the administration selecting somebody to fill the office of Attorney General, which has been vacant for nearly two months, who has not been active in the game for well over a year and has only re-registered today. Rpryor, are you willing to assure the country that you are fully committed to serving the people of today's Atlasia?
Also, who is the friend that you messaged regarding your return to Atlasia? Was there any sort of patronage deal made in order to secure your appointment to these offices?

In a question to the President: why have you kept the office of Attorney General vacant for nearly two months, and why did you appoint Rpryor within minutes of him re-registering?

Bacon King was confirmed as AG and Dereich wasn’t let go on Day 1. AG hasn’t been vacant for 2 months; SOIA on the other hand is what you might be thinking of.

[Lumine]

Also, who is the friend that you messaged regarding your return to Atlasia? Was there any sort of patronage deal made in order to secure your appointment to these offices?

Oh, that would be me.

I have known Rpryor for the past four years - in Atlas and other games - and we have always been friendly despite us not being always in contact, so when he returned and expressed his interest to serve I remembered the vacancy left by Bacon King, I encouraged him to apply for the job and also recommended him for it on account of some of the reasons I outlined before.

Having often made a point of the relevance of transparency I'm confident the answer to your second question would be a direct no, but if there are further questions regarding transparency I can answer please feel free to ask them.

[Pericles]

Lol at LT getting his talking points mixed up.

I'd be inclined to support this nomination myself, rpryor seems like a nice competent public servant and seems qualified for this role. He has already addressed it partially, but I would like to ask him to expand on the issue of activity and how, as much as possible, the Senate can be assured that he will be active. Is there a consistent record of high activity in the past that would signal a commitment to the offices he has held and/or will hold?

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

As a member of the House of Representatives, I wish to voice some concerns and ask some questions for the sake of maintaining transparency with the people.

I am concerned about the administration selecting somebody to fill the office of Attorney General, which has been vacant for nearly two months, who has not been active in the game for well over a year and has only re-registered today. Rpryor, are you willing to assure the country that you are fully committed to serving the people of today's Atlasia?
Also, who is the friend that you messaged regarding your return to Atlasia? Was there any sort of patronage deal made in order to secure your appointment to these offices?

In a question to the President: why have you kept the office of Attorney General vacant for nearly two months, and why did you appoint Rpryor within minutes of him re-registering?

Bacon King was confirmed as AG and Dereich wasn’t let go on Day 1. AG hasn’t been vacant for 2 months; SOIA on the other hand is what you might be thinking of.

Taking more cynically, he could be backhand referring to BK as an empty chair. Though I would prefer not to think that is the case.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

While Dereich was in office, he raised the issue about the narrowness of the Attorney General's mandate in Atlasia compared to RL and pre-reset, and this is of course based off the executive orders issued establishing it as a separate department from the Internal Affairs. It only really listed one task and that is to lead the Department of Justice. Dereich expressed concern thus about 1) being able to represent the Government as the defendant in cases and also 2) being able to bring cases against say a region that violated a constitutional provision. 

In light of these concerns would be focused on reviewing and proposing a set of recommendations to the President on how best to expand the authority of the Justice Department? Will those recommendations also be publicly available if created?

[rpryor03]

Lol at LT getting his talking points mixed up.

I'd be inclined to support this nomination myself, rpryor seems like a nice competent public servant and seems qualified for this role. He has already addressed it partially, but I would like to ask him to expand on the issue of activity and how, as much as possible, the Senate can be assured that he will be active. Is there a consistent record of high activity in the past that would signal a commitment to the offices he has held and/or will hold?

Senator,

Pretty much most of my jobs would signal that committment - really only during my VP term did I have major activity problems, and that was due to some issues in my personal life at the time.

Whether I was SoFE and NE CJO, I showed up, did the job, and "went home." I know what my responsibilities are, and I'm going to discharge them. I've served as Speaker of Legislatures too - a time-consuming job that requires extra effort from the legislator picked. I have the time and effort to be successful in this job, and I know myself better so that I can think about resigning if my life gets screwy again.

[rpryor03]

While Dereich was in office, he raised the issue about the narrowness of the Attorney General's mandate in Atlasia compared to RL and pre-reset, and this is of course based off the executive orders issued establishing it as a separate department from the Internal Affairs. It only really listed one task and that is to lead the Department of Justice. Dereich expressed concern thus about 1) being able to represent the Government as the defendant in cases and also 2) being able to bring cases against say a region that violated a constitutional provision. 

In light of these concerns would be focused on reviewing and proposing a set of recommendations to the President on how best to expand the authority of the Justice Department? Will those recommendations also be publicly available if created?

Senator,

I completely agree. The Executive Order written by President DFW is, shall we say, sparse. I will look at the historical role of the Attorney General and, through discussions with the President and other Atlasian leaders, look to define the role of the Attorney General under the Fourth Constitution, and I will make my recommendations to the President public.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

There have in the past been concerns raised by some of both duel office holding on the part of the Attorney General (Particularly with Oakvale and Truman) presenting a conflict of interest (especially when it is an elective office held) and also with the fact that the DoJ exists only by the fiat of the President through executive order. Would you support altering this paradigm or changing the creation authority of the DoJ to preserve its independence and avoid conflicts of interest?

[rpryor03]

I am concerned about the administration selecting somebody to fill the office of Attorney General, which has been vacant for nearly two months, who has not been active in the game for well over a year and has only re-registered today. Rpryor, are you willing to assure the country that you are fully committed to serving the people of today's Atlasia?

I am, Representative.

[rpryor03]

There have in the past been concerns raised by some of both duel office holding on the part of the Attorney General (Particularly with Oakvale and Truman) presenting a conflict of interest (especially when it is an elective office held) and also with the fact that the DoJ exists only by the fiat of the President through executive order. Would you support altering this paradigm or changing the creation authority of the DoJ to preserve its independence and avoid conflicts of interest?

Thank you for that question, Senator.

In a perfect Atlasia, I would support having all Cabinet and Cabinet-level posts be limited to single-office positions with a few exceptions (for example, my service as Emergency Commissioner of Fremont while being VP). However, this is not a perfect Atlasia. I would offer that if we were to codify the role of the Attorney General into statute (which I support and will be suggesting to the President) that certain positions, including leadership in a political party, member of the Congress, and executive of a region should not be allowed for double-jobbing with the role of the Attorney General. As you know, I will be double-jobbing as National Archivist as well if I am confirmed. (I recognize this answer's a bit all over the place, so feel free to delve more into this.)

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

There have in the past been concerns raised by some of both duel office holding on the part of the Attorney General (Particularly with Oakvale and Truman) presenting a conflict of interest (especially when it is an elective office held) and also with the fact that the DoJ exists only by the fiat of the President through executive order. Would you support altering this paradigm or changing the creation authority of the DoJ to preserve its independence and avoid conflicts of interest?

Thank you for that question, Senator.

In a perfect Atlasia, I would support having all Cabinet and Cabinet-level posts be limited to single-office positions with a few exceptions (for example, my service as Emergency Commissioner of Fremont while being VP). However, this is not a perfect Atlasia. I would offer that if we were to codify the role of the Attorney General into statute (which I support and will be suggesting to the President) that certain positions, including leadership in a political party, member of the Congress, and executive of a region should not be allowed for double-jobbing with the role of the Attorney General. As you know, I will be double-jobbing as National Archivist as well if I am confirmed. (I recognize this answer's a bit all over the place, so feel free to delve more into this.)

There is a historical connection between updating the wiki and Attorney General. Though more narrow to the statutes, it was considered part of the AG's job pre-reset obviously.


I would agree that we should try to minimize the dual officeholding of the Attorney General because of the concern over the potential conflict of interest, this especially so since most AG actions involve either elections or regions and thus serving as an elected official or in regional government poses a great risk in this regard.

I would be reluctant to extend this to the policy related jobs (SoS and SoIA) because they have roles to play in implementing policy while it is certainly more British than American in that regards , I am not against this aspect of a parliamentary system existing for these offices since they can push administration policies. It also helps having members of Congress on the NSC and similar institutions especially when you need to get stuff passed quickly pertaining to urgent foreign policy and national security related matters.

[YE]

I am concerned about the administration selecting somebody to fill the office of Attorney General, which has been vacant for nearly two months, who has not been active in the game for well over a year and has only re-registered today. Rpryor, are you willing to assure the country that you are fully committed to serving the people of today's Atlasia?

I am, Representative.

https://youtu.be/m1clV4Q-7C8

[Mr. Reactionary]

What do you know about antitrust law?

[rpryor03]

What do you know about antitrust law?

Mr. GM, I certainly know the basics of antitrust law. My specialty, however, has been in Constitutional law.

[Sestak]

Right, I move for a final vote. 24 hours to object.

[Sestak]

A final vote is now open. Senators, please vote Aye, Nay, or Abstain.

[Pericles]

Aye

[Sestak]

Aye.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

AYE

[Lechasseur]

Aye