The hidden side of politics

Brett Kavanaugh’s government work becomes partisan battle in committee

Reported by Washington Times:

Senators on the Judiciary Committee sparred Thursday about the volume of records being sought for review ahead of the confirmation hearing for Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh.

Republicans want the committee to come up with a workable standard for requesting documents related to Judge Kavanaugh’s time working in the Bush administration as staff secretary to President George W. Bush, saying only papers he authored or contributed to should be subject to review by the committee.

They also said his record while working for the government was vetted by the Senate ahead of his confirmation vote to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals in 2006, suggesting the focus ahead of his hearing later this year should be on the roughly 300 opinions he authored while serving on the federal appeals court.

“Some sort of standard, it seems to me, should apply rather than just saying we want every scrap of paper he saw during the time he was in government service,” said Sen. John Cornyn, Texas Republican.

Typically, the committee reviews past legal work of the judicial nominees in order to probe them during confirmation hearings, but since Judge Kavanaugh’s record is so extensive, having worked for Mr. Bush and as a lawyer with the special counsel Ken Starr, there’s concern about how long the process may take.

Republican senators are charging the Democrats with using Judge Kavanaugh’s extensive background as a way to slow the confirmation down.

“It can’t just be an open-ended fishing expedition,” said Sen. Mike Lee, Utah Republican.

But Democrats objected to coming up with a new standard, saying Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan served as solicitor general during the Obama administration and all of her applicable documents were turned over ahead of her confirmation hearing in 2010.

“Our constituents deserve to know who this nominee is, what he will bring to the court, and how his legal views will impact their daily lives,” said the top Democrat on the committee, Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California.

“And this starts with having access to Judge Kavaluagh’s records from his time in the White House and as a political operative,” she added.

In addition to working as a staff secretary in the Bush White House, Judge Kavanaugh also worked with special counsel Mr. Starr during the investigation into President Bill Clinton, playing a key role in drafting the Starr Report which urged the impeachment of the president. He also played a role on behalf of the Bush campaign during the 2000 Florida recount.

Following President Trump’s nomination of Judge Kavanaugh, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein asked nearly 100 Justice Department attorneys to start reviewing documents related to Judge Kavanaugh’s work.

Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles E. Grassley, Iowa Republican, said the two sides are trying to work together to come up with all the relevant documents in a timely manner.

“We are in a process here on these documents,” Mr. Grassley said. “Senator Feinstein and my staff met yesterday … with the lawyers of President George W. Bush, so I hope that’s an example that we are working in good faith.”

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Source:Washington Times

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