Hawley erupts at Biden pardon attorney over Dylann Roof clemency push

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. ©2026 FOX News Network, LLC. All rights reserved. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Market data provided by Factset. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Legal Statement. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by LSEG. The Republicans accused Elizabeth Oyer of elevating convicted murderers over victims, pointing to memos recommending clemency for all 40 federal death row prisoners. Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., grilled former Biden pardon attorney Elizabeth Oyer on Thursday over her recommendation that then-President Joe Biden consider sparing Charleston church killer Dylann Roof from the death penalty, flipping Democrats' star witness into the target of Republican criticism. During the second day of Blanche's Senate confirmation hearing, Hawley, along with several other Republican members, repeatedly pressed Oyer about a November 2024 memorandum recommending clemency for the remaining federal death row inmates, including Roof, who murdered nine Black parishioners during a Bible study at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina, in 2015.