DEMOCRATS: “WE ARE HERE UNDER PROTEST”
by Sharon Rondeau
(Sep. 6, 2018) — At approximately 9:50 a.m. EDT, Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) interrupted Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley’s opening statement to insist on releasing an email he said was in regard to “racial profiling” deemed classified by President George W. Bush’s office at risk of expulsion from the Senate for violating its rules.
Booker and Sen. Richard Blumenthal almost immediately interrupted Grassley as he made his opening remarks before questioning of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh was to begin.
At 9:55 a.m., Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) said he “does not accept” the rule of the Senate about “committee confidential” information.
At issue is what Democrats say are documents crucial to the evaluation of Kavanaugh marked “committee confidential” which they believe should be made public.
“Did you object to it when it was used for previous Supreme Court nominees?” Grassley asked Whitehouse of the “committee confidential” rule. Whitehouse’s response was convoluted and overshadowed by others speaking.
Blumenthal, Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-HI) and others each then took the floor with Grassley’s acquiescence. “We are here under protest,” Blumenthal said. “We are trying to get to the truth here,” he said in regard to documents Democrats claim they need to evaluate Kavanaugh’s qualifications.
In an email response on Wednesday, Blumenthal said he planned to vote against Kavanaugh.
On Tuesday morning, Democrats, beginning with Sen. Kamala Harris, immediately interrupted Grassley’s opening statement while Kavanaugh and his family, including two young daughters, looked on.
At 10:02, Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) said he feels it unfair to release documents without “the witness” having been shown a copy. Lee said he “completely disagrees” with Democrats’ claims that the “classified” documents, claimed to be so under the Presidential Records Act (PRA), should not be made public.
Grassley provided an opportunity for all committee Democrats to speak.
Sen. Richard Durbin (D-IL) has been objecting to a “Mr. Bill Burke,” a “private attorney,” who allegedly made the decision to designate certain documents as “classified.” Durbin insisted that the way in which Grassley has been proceeding “is not the way we have done it in the past.”
Durbin said that Burke has affiliations with Kavanaugh, current White House counsel Don McGahn, and former White House strategic adviser Stephen K. Bannon.
“If there’s going to be some retribution for my colleague from New Jersey, count me in,” Durbin said at 10:10.
At 10:30, Hirono said she is “releasing that document to the press,” meaning the email allegedly associated with “racial profiling.” She said she also will risk expulsion.
Democrats also object to a 42,000-page “document dump” made late Monday night on Kavanaugh’s public service.
Kavanaugh served in the Bush White House as staff secretary from 2003 to 2006, over which Burke has apparently claimed confidentiality in regard to documents. In 2006, Kavanaugh was nominated and appointed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Washington, DC. He has a “well-qualified” rating from the American Bar Association (ABA) for the U.S. Supreme Court.
“If you’re frustrated with the process, let’s review the Presidential Records Act,” Lee said later. He then said that former presidents did not release “all” of the documents from their respective administrations.
Grassley said that when he was chairman of the committee, Patrick Leahy (D-VT) “accepted committee classified” documents on Supreme Court nominees.
Booker said that “there is no Senate rule” covering “committee confidential” documents but said he “knowingly” violating another rule. He then objected to Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX)’s having said that Booker’s behavior was “unbecoming of a member of the U.S. Senate.” After Booker finished speaking, challenging his colleagues to “bring charges” against him,
Cornyn responded by reading what he said is “a rule that applies.”
All of us are ready to face that rule on the bogus designation of “committee confidential,” Blumenthal then said. “We’re dealing here with a lifetime appointment.”
Lee said that he would “work with” anyone requesting that a certain document or documents be made public. He said that certain documents from early Supreme Court nominees were “sealed” for 30 years.
At 10:31 a.m., Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) suggested that every member of the committee makes his or her own emails associated with Kavanaugh’s nomination public and offered to do so first.