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| Judge Kavanaugh’s Confirmation Hearings: Pandemonium from the Start | |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| Right Now: The Senate Judiciary Committee is coming to order. | |
| • Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh appears before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday for the first day of his confirmation hearing before Congress votes on his nomination to join the Supreme Court. The hearing, which is expected to last four days, began with a bang, as Democrats moved angrily to adjourn to consider newly released documents and protesters screamed in support. | |
| • Republicans hoped to use the hearings as an opportunity to extol the experience and distinguished résumé of Judge Kavanaugh, a Washington federal appeals court judge, as well as his advocacy for women in the judiciary and aversion to government regulations. Very few, if any, of the Republicans on the committee are likely to present the judge with tough opposition. | |
| • Democrats, if they get to the questioning, are expected to aggressively press Judge Kavanaugh on his positions on Roe v. Wade, the landmark abortion rights case in 1973; the scope of executive power; same-sex marriage; and several other issues for which Judge Kavanaugh, if confirmed, would very likely shift the ideological leanings of the Supreme Court. | |
| Judge Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearings have just begun, but already the protests are underway. | |
| About a dozen women, dressed in red garbs and white bonnets in the fashion of “The Handmaid’s Tale,” stood silently, as if in prayer, outside the hearing room. Such protests have been occurring around the nation against gender discrimination and the infringement of reproductive rights. | |
| Democrats on the Senate Judiciary, furious at the White House for withholding documents relating to Judge Kavanaugh — and for dumping 42,000 pages on them at the last minute Monday night — took to the steps of the Supreme Court Tuesday morning to register their own opposition. | |
| “Ninety-three percent of the records from Kavanaugh’s tenure in the White House as counsel and staff secretary have not been provided to the Senate and 96 percent are hidden to the public,” Senator Dianne Feinstein of California, the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said, referring to Judge Kavanaugh’s time in the George W. Bush White House. “This entire process has cast a cloud over Judge Kavanaugh,” she added, saying, “We go to these hearings under protest.” | |
| In an excerpt from Judge Kavanaugh’s prepared remarks released by the White House on Tuesday morning, he made a point of praising his colleagues on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit — and one in particular. | |
| “I have served with 17 other judges, each of them a colleague and a friend, on a court now led by our superb chief judge, Merrick Garland,” Judge Kavanaugh said. | |
| Judge Garland was President Obama’s nominee to fill the seat left vacant by the death in 2016 of Justice Antonin Scalia. Senate Republican denied him a hearing, and President Trump eventually appointed Justice Neil M. Gorsuch to the seat. | |
| The episode generated deep division and bitterness, and Judge Kavanaugh’s comment may rekindle it. | |
| Judge Kavanaugh, who has been quietly crisscrossing Capitol Hill to meet with senators on both sides of the aisle, will have the opportunity to publicly present himself and pre-emptively address criticism about aspects of his career, including his days working for Kenneth W. Starr, the independent counsel who investigated President Bill Clinton, and the accusation that he may have misled Congress during his appeals court confirmation hearing in 2006. | Judge Kavanaugh, who has been quietly crisscrossing Capitol Hill to meet with senators on both sides of the aisle, will have the opportunity to publicly present himself and pre-emptively address criticism about aspects of his career, including his days working for Kenneth W. Starr, the independent counsel who investigated President Bill Clinton, and the accusation that he may have misled Congress during his appeals court confirmation hearing in 2006. |
| The judge’s prepared remarks will most likely indicate how forthcoming he will be under questioning from lawmakers about his opinions on case law, judicial precedent and his previous rulings. In excerpts released Tuesday morning by the White House, Judge Kavanaugh vowed to be a “team player on the Team of Nine” if confirmed to the court. | The judge’s prepared remarks will most likely indicate how forthcoming he will be under questioning from lawmakers about his opinions on case law, judicial precedent and his previous rulings. In excerpts released Tuesday morning by the White House, Judge Kavanaugh vowed to be a “team player on the Team of Nine” if confirmed to the court. |
| “A good judge must be an umpire — a neutral and impartial arbiter who favors no litigant or policy,” the judge is expected to tell lawmakers. “I am a pro-law judge.” | “A good judge must be an umpire — a neutral and impartial arbiter who favors no litigant or policy,” the judge is expected to tell lawmakers. “I am a pro-law judge.” |
| Among other people, the judge will also acknowledge the legacy of Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, whose retirement enabled his nomination, and Judge Merrick B. Garland, the chief of the appeals court where Judge Kavanaugh currently serves. Judge Garland was nominated to sit on the Supreme Court by President Barack Obama in the final year of his term, but was not granted a hearing by Republicans in Congress. | Among other people, the judge will also acknowledge the legacy of Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, whose retirement enabled his nomination, and Judge Merrick B. Garland, the chief of the appeals court where Judge Kavanaugh currently serves. Judge Garland was nominated to sit on the Supreme Court by President Barack Obama in the final year of his term, but was not granted a hearing by Republicans in Congress. |
| He will be introduced by Senator Rob Portman, Republican of Ohio; Condoleezza Rice, the former secretary of state; and Lisa Blatt, a self-described “liberal Democrat and a feminist” lawyer who has advocated Judge Kavanaugh’s confirmation. | He will be introduced by Senator Rob Portman, Republican of Ohio; Condoleezza Rice, the former secretary of state; and Lisa Blatt, a self-described “liberal Democrat and a feminist” lawyer who has advocated Judge Kavanaugh’s confirmation. |
| Democrats have seized upon Judge Kavanaugh’s defense of presidential power — including his questioning of the merits of indicting a sitting president — as cause for concern, citing the numerous investigations and indictments that have implicated President Trump and members of his administration. In a law journal article, the judge also suggested that a sitting president should be exempt from civil or criminal investigation. | Democrats have seized upon Judge Kavanaugh’s defense of presidential power — including his questioning of the merits of indicting a sitting president — as cause for concern, citing the numerous investigations and indictments that have implicated President Trump and members of his administration. In a law journal article, the judge also suggested that a sitting president should be exempt from civil or criminal investigation. |
| Republicans have said that the judge’s words have been taken out of context. But during the confirmation hearing, Democrats will quite likely interrogate Judge Kavanaugh over those positions and whether he would agree to recuse himself from any case involving the president’s financial affairs or the special counsel’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. | Republicans have said that the judge’s words have been taken out of context. But during the confirmation hearing, Democrats will quite likely interrogate Judge Kavanaugh over those positions and whether he would agree to recuse himself from any case involving the president’s financial affairs or the special counsel’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. |
| Justice Neil M. Gorsuch, President Trump’s first nominee to the Supreme Court, said during his own confirmation hearings last year that he would not shy from voting against the man who nominated him, but did so in vague terms. | Justice Neil M. Gorsuch, President Trump’s first nominee to the Supreme Court, said during his own confirmation hearings last year that he would not shy from voting against the man who nominated him, but did so in vague terms. |
| For Democrats on the committee with possible presidential aspirations — including Senators Cory Booker of New Jersey, Kamala Harris of California and Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota — the televised hearings offer an opportunity for combative questioning that can fuel both viral clips and material for a 2020 campaign. | For Democrats on the committee with possible presidential aspirations — including Senators Cory Booker of New Jersey, Kamala Harris of California and Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota — the televised hearings offer an opportunity for combative questioning that can fuel both viral clips and material for a 2020 campaign. |
| It is unclear how much Senator Dianne Feinstein, Democrat of California and the committee’s ranking member, will attempt to direct the questioning from members of her own party. As the Senate’s most ardent proponent of gun restrictions, she is expected to grill Judge Kavanaugh on a 2009 dissent in which he argued against banning semiautomatic weapons. | It is unclear how much Senator Dianne Feinstein, Democrat of California and the committee’s ranking member, will attempt to direct the questioning from members of her own party. As the Senate’s most ardent proponent of gun restrictions, she is expected to grill Judge Kavanaugh on a 2009 dissent in which he argued against banning semiautomatic weapons. |
| Ms. Feinstein, who was the chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence Committee when it conducted an investigation into the Bush administration’s torture program after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, may also pursue her own line of questioning over Judge Kavanaugh’s time as an associate White House counsel — especially his offer to help a senior administration official prepare testimony about the government’s surveillance of conversations between certain terrorism suspects and their lawyers. | Ms. Feinstein, who was the chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence Committee when it conducted an investigation into the Bush administration’s torture program after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, may also pursue her own line of questioning over Judge Kavanaugh’s time as an associate White House counsel — especially his offer to help a senior administration official prepare testimony about the government’s surveillance of conversations between certain terrorism suspects and their lawyers. |
| That offer, revealed in a trove of documents released ahead of the confirmation hearing, contradicts Judge Kavanaugh’s 2006 testimony, in which he told lawmakers he was “not involved in the questions about the rules governing detention of combatants.” Democrats have charged that the statement, made in a White House email, was a lie, although it is unknown if Judge Kavanaugh actually provided assistance. | That offer, revealed in a trove of documents released ahead of the confirmation hearing, contradicts Judge Kavanaugh’s 2006 testimony, in which he told lawmakers he was “not involved in the questions about the rules governing detention of combatants.” Democrats have charged that the statement, made in a White House email, was a lie, although it is unknown if Judge Kavanaugh actually provided assistance. |
| While Justice Gorsuch’s hearings were punctated by reminders that Republicans refused to hold hearings for Judge Garland, it is likely that Democrats will focus instead on the amount of information they say is being withheld from them about Judge Kavanaugh’s work in the White House under President George W. Bush. | While Justice Gorsuch’s hearings were punctated by reminders that Republicans refused to hold hearings for Judge Garland, it is likely that Democrats will focus instead on the amount of information they say is being withheld from them about Judge Kavanaugh’s work in the White House under President George W. Bush. |
| Thousands of pages of records have not yet been made public, and on Friday the Trump administration asserted executive privilege and refused to release more than 100,000 pages of records about Judge Kavanaugh’s time in the Bush White House. Democrats have called for a delay of the confirmation hearings to further scrutinize the paper records, a demand Republicans have dismissed. | Thousands of pages of records have not yet been made public, and on Friday the Trump administration asserted executive privilege and refused to release more than 100,000 pages of records about Judge Kavanaugh’s time in the Bush White House. Democrats have called for a delay of the confirmation hearings to further scrutinize the paper records, a demand Republicans have dismissed. |
| An additional 42,000 pages of documents were released the night before the hearing, according to Senator Chuck Schumer, the minority leader, who raised complaints about the timing. | An additional 42,000 pages of documents were released the night before the hearing, according to Senator Chuck Schumer, the minority leader, who raised complaints about the timing. |
| “This underscores just how absurd this process is,” Mr. Schumer wrote on Twitter Monday night. “Not a single senator will be able to review these records before tomorrow.” | “This underscores just how absurd this process is,” Mr. Schumer wrote on Twitter Monday night. “Not a single senator will be able to review these records before tomorrow.” |
| A press officer for the committee, responding via the committee’s Twitter account a few hours later, said the majority staff had “completed its review of each and every one of these pages.” | A press officer for the committee, responding via the committee’s Twitter account a few hours later, said the majority staff had “completed its review of each and every one of these pages.” |