Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh faces the Senate Judiciary Committee for the third day on Thursday. The hearing starts at 9:30AM ET.
Wednesday lasted 12 hours, but today should be a little shorter since senators only get 20 minutes to ask questions. Yet I expect many interruptions from protesters.
Protesters are all over Grassley’s office.
Grassley has started the hearing and is giving a speech about the release of the documents. He has said the Democrats “only have themselves to blame if they didn’t get the documents they wanted.” He is talking about how long it takes to get the documents due to redactions, but that those who want the documents will get them.
Whitehouse said that since he doesn’t consider this nomination and hearing as legitimate then the rules don’t apply to him.
So yes, the hearing has kicked off with a debate over the documents. Anyone want to guess when we finally get to the questioning of Kavanaugh?
Booker is complaining about the process of getting confidential documents. He also wants to know why some are kept confidential when they don’t have sensitive information or anything to do with national security.
Booker also said he will turn an email public that is confidential and will accept the consequences. The email is about racial profiling.
Cory Booker has released the documents:
Feinstein immediately asked about Roe vs Wade. As you know the NYT dropped an article with an old Kavanaugh email wondering if Roe was settled law:
Orrin Hatch also brought up the email and Kavanaugh repeated that he was just trying to be as accurate as he can about what legal scholars think.
Jason Howerton noted on Twitter that he cannot believe Feinstein keeps asking Kavanaugh about his feelings on such subjects. I agree:
Leahy jumps right into the subject he brought up yesterday about stolen emails during the Bush administration. Leahy has brought up documents that were declassified late last night.
Graham asked Kavanaugh more questions. Kavanaugh insists he did not encourage people to steal documents nor did he know that he had stolen property.
The ever so wonderful (sarcasm) Sheldon Whitehouse begins his questioning about protecting the president. He’s basically arguing that Kavanaugh should recuse himself if SCOTUS receives a case against Trump.
Kavanaugh tells Coons that he will not hypothetically apply US vs. Nixon. That case said the president has to produce subpoena recordings and documents. Kavanaugh has called it one of the best SCOTUS decisions in history.
Jeff Flake asked Kavanaugh about judges’ and their political and religious beliefs:
“We don’t sit in separate caucus rooms, we don’t sit on sides of an aisle, we are not Republican judges or Democratic judges. We are independent, United States judges. And so to, with respect to religious beliefs as I have written, we are all equally American no matter what religion we are or if we have no religion at all. And so, to as judges, we are all equally United States judges no matter what religion we are. And we see that right in the text of the Constitution,” Kavanaugh said.
The New Jersey senator is campaigning again trying to make points out of nothing that prove that Kavanaugh will not be independent as he claims he will be.
Booker is trying to goad Kavanaugh to get political, even though Kavanaugh said that sitting judges do not do this. Kavanaugh has said before that he has not voted because it gets in the way of his independence. Booker kept trying to make Kavanaugh make a remark about Trump’s character.
In other words, Booker just wants to hear himself speak and campaign for 2020.
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