YouSaid · the spoken record

Kelly Ayotte

lines on the record
83
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2018-05-03
most recent
2018-05-03
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1
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  1. “I didn't want to go there, David Um... You know what I loved about, for example, being the first woman attorney general, people would always ask about that. I said there's only one great thing about being the first is I'm not going to be the last. I mean, you know, that's these things, these ways get paved. And so, you know, Tammy Duckworth, it's wonderful that she's able to really to have a baby, be a senator, that hopefully the body will support her on all that.”

    2018-05-03 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 239 - Kelly Ayotte · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  2. “So she, right, exactly. I think it's wonderful that they did that long time coming. You know, these are changes that we see happening.”

    2018-05-03 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 239 - Kelly Ayotte · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  3. “That the stand They are. I mean, they are you're first of all asked different questions when you their standards are different and when you're a professional woman and when you're for example running for office you could have you know men who have young children and they're never going to be asked the questions I was asked and they're not going to be judged in the same way on these issues so it is different it's different standard I mean this is and it's challenging it's really challenging for for for men and women, but women especially, I think, of trying to figure out how do I have a career and how do I be a good mom and how do I be.”

    2018-05-03 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 239 - Kelly Ayotte · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  4. “Served under Governor Lynch actually longer than I served under Governor Benson. But then I had my son also, Jacob, when I was Attorney General. So the public was sort of used to me being in this very public position of having children. But when I ran for office and my first primary, it was a really tough race and it surprised me and it surprised my husband even more how many people asked me what's going to happen to your children because I had held a very public position where I clearly had children. It was a chief law enforcement officer of the state and had significant responsibility. And so I was really surprised how often I got that question. And of course my male counterparts never ever got that question.”

    2018-05-03 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 239 - Kelly Ayotte · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  5. “The standards were different, they still are different. I mean, we've come a long way on these issues, but they're still, I think, some residual different standards out there. And let me give you the example. I had both, I had my daughter Kate. I was Attorney General for five and a half years. So our daughter, Kate, and then I was actually reappointed, not by Republican governor, but a Democratic governor, Governor Lynch.”

    2018-05-03 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 239 - Kelly Ayotte · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  6. “You know, very, first of all, I had a lot of help. Like my husband is very supportive, but my parents live pretty close. Aunts and uncles, a lot of family help. I also, you know, I think the AG's office was a pretty family-friendly office. I mean, I joked recently I was at a woman's conference talking about this, but my office is the Attorney General's office. I had just had a baby. I had to set up a mini fridge in the little office to the side so that I could, you know, pump so that I could bring Mill Coleman to my kids. So we just all of a sudden the office was thrust into we have a woman who's Attorney General and we're just gonna deal with it. And fortunately for me, I had been in the office. I knew the team. They knew me, so we just all work together.”

    2018-05-03 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 239 - Kelly Ayotte · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  7. “Here he was. I was his deputy, and this happened. Obviously, I wasn't there. And so it was a very difficult situation. And so I was appointed the first woman attorney general. And I was six months, seven months pregnant at the time. And so not only was I appointed the first woman more quickly than I ever thought I would, it really changed my, I can assure you my maternity leave pretty quickly. And then I dealt with all the questions about, you know, what's it, you know, not only being the first woman, but here you are, how are you going to manage having a baby and doing. and being attorney general. It's interesting because so many of those questions that we probably face less of them now, but it was amazing all the questions”

    2018-05-03 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 239 - Kelly Ayotte · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  8. “I was not out at the time. And so. So it was a hard situation. I mean, he ended up resigning. It became a big controversial issue. I was appointed the first one.”

    2018-05-03 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 239 - Kelly Ayotte · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  9. “He did, yeah. It was a very hard time. I was actually expecting our first child, Kate, who's now 13. And I was literally six months pregnant. And so the then attorney general, Peter Heed, ran into some problems at a domestic violence conference. which I was not.”

    2018-05-03 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 239 - Kelly Ayotte · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  10. “Yes, what I realized when I went over to be legal counsel for the governor is that the believe it or not, I missed the Attorney General's office. I did one legislative session with him. So I actually learned a lot about how the legislature operates through that and the governor's office, but the political world just wasn't what I wanted to do. And so fortunately, he appointed a new attorney general. And that new attorney general wanted to have me come back and be the deputy. And the governor was supportive of that. So that's how I ended up being the number two in the office.”

    2018-05-03 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 239 - Kelly Ayotte · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  11. “Guys, yeah, and I'll never, I'd go up to see the Attorney General to brief him on something, and I was like, Why is it all guys? And so when I was asked to interview for the governor's legal counsel, I decided. Okay, I don't know that I want to do that job, but it's a really obviously a very interesting job. Many people would want to do it. So what I really want to do is serve as Attorney General. But I was kind of young and naive. It was crazy. So I went in and when I interviewed, I said, it's really, I'm really honored that you have me come in for this job, but I think you should make me attorney general. And they kind of laughed at me. You know, they laughed at me, but they liked my spunk, and the governor offered me the job as legal counsel.”

    2018-05-03 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 239 - Kelly Ayotte · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  12. “Well, it was kind of crazy, but I knew one thing having served in the Attorney General's office, if you come in the New Hampshire Attorney General's office, you will see on the wall the pictures of every Attorney General going back to like, I think a guy on a horse, like way back in the 1800s.”

    2018-05-03 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 239 - Kelly Ayotte · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  13. “The governor appoints the Attorney General confirmed by the Executive Council because we have five elected executive counselors throughout the state.”

    2018-05-03 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 239 - Kelly Ayotte · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  14. “Did I mean I was again when I was at the Attorney General's office, my job, I think, especially important when you're administering the law, when you're prosecuting, it cannot be political in any way, has to be done very independently. And so I was not involved in politics at all. In fact, I was a registered independent at the time. I wasn't even a registered Republican. And I got a call out of the blue with the then newly elected governor's transition team. Hey, we've noticed you. Do you want to come interview to be the governor's legal counsel? So that was my first real injection in the political world.”

    2018-05-03 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 239 - Kelly Ayotte · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  15. “Like a campaign. Yeah, it's a camp. It's a campaign, David. A trial is like that. And so I was just already kind of really exhausted and the Attorney General said, did you hear what happened in Hanover? I want you to go up and handle this case. And so I got thrust in this. And what I didn't appreciate at the time was just the media. I'd never experienced. So I was, we didn't know anything. And every day I'd have to go out there and try to answer questions when I knew nothing. And, you know, so that really annoyed the press. And that was probably my first experience with good training. I had no idea that this would, you know, be something that I would have to do in the future for other reasons. But yeah, no, it was a very tough case. But it was a case that drew a lot of attention in our state.”

    2018-05-03 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 239 - Kelly Ayotte · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  16. “Very difficult to solve. We were only able to solve it because they made some mistakes on the forensics, on the scene, and great police work. I mean, this case had the state police, the local police, the FBI came in. And I was, you know, a pretty young woman at the time. I had just finished trying a first degree murder case, and I'll never forget I was waiting for the jury with my trial partner at the time and the attorney general called me. And when you're in a trial, it's like so intense. You're just like, you're not doing anything. You're like eating ramen noodles and like going in.”

    2018-05-03 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 239 - Kelly Ayotte · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  17. “It was. They really did. What was it like to kill someone and also a hair brain scheme that they were going to rob whoever they killed and they were going to travel to Australia and do these kind of fantasy-like things? And so we never quite were able to fully understand because it's so hard to comprehend that someone would commit such evil acts and not have, you know, some motivation or you can obviously never.”

    2018-05-03 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 239 - Kelly Ayotte · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  18. “Know it was one of those things that was very difficult to comprehend and understand even now, even though I know what happened. So the 17-year-old Robert Tullock, who is actually serving a life sentence, he had talked to the younger one, James Parker. They wanted to see what it was like to kill someone. And they had this hair really.”

    2018-05-03 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 239 - Kelly Ayotte · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  19. “Through, you know, we were there for over two weeks before we had really a strong lead of connecting forensics at the scene and the purchase of these particular kinds of knives because a sheath was left at the scene that connected us to these two teens in Chelsea, Vermont, which is a sleepy town in Vermont, just adjacent to Hanover over the border, where sixteen and seventeen-year-old boys who otherwise you thought normal life, you know, never no huge indications of trouble in their past and come to find out they committed cold-blooded murder.”

    2018-05-03 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 239 - Kelly Ayotte · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  20. “It really was. So you had two picture kind of sleepy Hanover and actually Etna, which is right essentially adjacent to Hanover. Beautiful home, two lovely professors, Health and Susanna. Health was an earth sciences professor and Susanna was a German professor. And they were murdered in their home brutally, stabbed to death. throats slit, just a very horrible, bloody murder scene. And it really, the whole community and not just the community, it shocked the community, but it actually shocked the country in the world. I mean, we had press that came in on this case from around the world. It drew so much attention and we didn't know who did it. We started with the obvious who would want to do harm to them, who would know them. And it was through good police work.”

    2018-05-03 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 239 - Kelly Ayotte · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  21. “Very grisly and honest, these cases were very horrible cases. And I was, you know, a relatively young woman at the time. And I think about it now that I'm a parent because today the worst case I ever prosecuted, which I will never forget, was a rape and murder of a six-year-old little girl. And this was before I was a mother. I think I was thinking about my trial partner the other day and he had two little girls and I'm like, how did he do it? So, yeah, those cases are very difficult, and especially with the surviving family members of they've gone through so much of making sure that they understand the process too and feel like the trial is fair to them and fair to everyone.”

    2018-05-03 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 239 - Kelly Ayotte · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  22. “Yeah, it's a little different. I mean, New Hampshire's different in a couple of regards. First of all, it's an appointed position. So I believe there's only a handful of states in the nation, maybe five, that are appointed rather than running for office. And also you're the chief law enforcement officer and the chief legal officer. And as part of that, the homicide murder prosecutions have always been conducted out of the AG's office. And so there was a special unit, the homicide unit, within that office that worked on those cases. And because I had done a defense case where PCR DNA evidence was relatively new and I knew about it, I got put on murder cases very quickly.”

    2018-05-03 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 239 - Kelly Ayotte · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  23. “I did. I saw how important the justice system was, and I also saw that I wanted to see justice done, make sure that it was administered fairly and done well when people were wronged. And that's what I got the passion for. But I also, it also gave me immense respect for what Defense Council does. So I was always a strong advocate even when I was Attorney General for the role of our public defender's office because our system does not work unless you have excellent advocacy on both sides.”

    2018-05-03 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 239 - Kelly Ayotte · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  24. “Yeah, it was a very serious case. These men from Charleston, Massachusetts were charged with committing bank robberies up and down the east coast. And part of the predicate acts or racketeering conspiracy to armored car guards murdered and six defendants. And so I was the junior lawyer along with a senior lawyer representing Stephen Burke, who was really alleged to be the lead. Especially I had the chance to talk to some law students this morning and I said to them, you know, you got a great opportunity to do, there's so much you can do with a law degree. So find something you care about and that you're passionate about. And that case made me realize that I wanted to go be a prosecutor.”

    2018-05-03 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 239 - Kelly Ayotte · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  25. “Yeah, I clerked when I first got out of law school and then I spent about four and a half years in a private firm and in their litigation department. And fortunately, like many things, I discovered what I really wanted to do with my life because one day I got handed, I got the opportunity to work on a court appointed criminal case in that big firm. And it ended up in a three-month trial in federal court. And I handled, I was the junior lawyer on it, very serious criminal case, and I handled the DNA evidence. And once I did that trial, I was like, I need, there's something else I need to do with my life. I really wanted to go work in the public sector, and that's how I ended up at the Attorney General's office.”

    2018-05-03 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 239 - Kelly Ayotte · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  26. “And her kids, like when we were, and I remember that too. So it's just a different perspective, I think, of just kind of be able to stand on your own two feet and figure out, you know, how do you do it and how do you be independent?”

    2018-05-03 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 239 - Kelly Ayotte · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  27. “So, my dad, he's a wonderful guy, but he lived in Oregon. And my mom, he went to graduate school in Oregon. So when they separated, my mom went back to where she's from, which is New Hampshire. So I would, you know, visit my dad, but I was really always much more with my mom. And it did shape me because my mom always worked, you know, I would like after school I'd come home, you know, take care of myself. I was always got the sense of independence from my mom. And she very much instilled of me just sort of the whole idea of, you know, you can do it. You just go do it. And so I just think her values were imparted on me there. And I saw her work really hard. And even I remember even being a kid when, you know, when she was single, you know, it's hard. We moved in with another woman who was widowed.”

    2018-05-03 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 239 - Kelly Ayotte · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  28. “Because I, you know, first of all, I was a political science major and I didn't and I had a minor in business, but I didn't have any thoughts of running for office or anything at that point. But I realized that, you know, being a lawyer, there's so many areas you can be a lawyer and you can be an advocate and you can advocate for your client. And I enjoy doing that. I enjoyed, you know, finding a cause, something I care about, even in college. I was involved in student government. So that just seemed like a natural fit of what I would do next.”

    2018-05-03 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 239 - Kelly Ayotte · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  29. “I did, you know, when I was much to one of my professors who was one of my mentors in college's chagrin because he wanted me actually to go on and become a professor. And I told him that I was going to be go to law school and that I'd be a lawyer. And he's like, you want to be a lawyer? Why would you want to do that? And so I realized.”

    2018-05-03 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 239 - Kelly Ayotte · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  30. “Yes So, my stepfather, my mom remarried when I was nine years old, and my stepfather's a Penn State grad. So I would hear him talk about Penn State all the time. Love Penn State, love Penn State football. And of course, as a teenager, I was like, oh, Penn State. And I didn't want to go see the college, but we were on the college tour up and down the East Coast. My stepfather Jim was like, well, you got to at least check it out. So the story is I'm sleeping in the back. We get on campus. I wake up. I get out of the car. I look around and I was like, I only applied there. I got in.”

    2018-05-03 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 239 - Kelly Ayotte · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  31. “No, not at all. I mean, I never may have had this job working for a company representing them on issues, but never worked on a campaign. I mean, ironically, the first campaign I ever worked on was my own. And so not a political family in that, and even at the kitchen table, we talk about issues, but not kind of this campaign or that campaign.”

    2018-05-03 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 239 - Kelly Ayotte · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  32. “Her career background. And then when she retired from that, she worked with some other folks and did some of that for some clients in Concord. So that was her background. But I don't even think I knew what that meant growing up. It wasn't like we had, you know, huge political discussions at the dinner table.”

    2018-05-03 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 239 - Kelly Ayotte · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source

  33. “Yeah, so she worked for, my mom is, she's a great lady. My parents divorced when I was six years old. And so I was always with my mom. And she never finished college, but then started with, it was then New England telephone, but became Verizon and then other configurations, but worked her way up through the company from, you know, basically a service rep to eventually their government relations for the company in New Hampshire. So that was her.”

    2018-05-03 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 239 - Kelly Ayotte · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source