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| Brett Kavanaugh Hearings Updates: Abortion Documents Take Center Stage | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Right Now: The Senate Judiciary Committee is taking a short recess. | |
| • The third day of confirmation hearings for the Supreme Court nominee Brett M. Kavanaugh, and the second day of senators’ questioning, began at 9:30 a.m. | • The third day of confirmation hearings for the Supreme Court nominee Brett M. Kavanaugh, and the second day of senators’ questioning, began at 9:30 a.m. |
| • Democrats offered some tantalizing hints at issues they are exploring on Wednesday. On Thursday, they were more forthcoming, even if it meant using documents that were marked “committee confidential.” | |
| • Many of those confidential documents spilled out in an anonymous release to The New York Times. | |
| In documents obtained by The New York Times that date back to Judge Kavanaugh’s time in the George W. Bush administration, Mr. Kavanaugh, then a White House aide, seemed to raise doubts about whether Roe v. Wade, the landmark Supreme Court ruling that found a constitutional right to an abortion, was “settled law.” | In documents obtained by The New York Times that date back to Judge Kavanaugh’s time in the George W. Bush administration, Mr. Kavanaugh, then a White House aide, seemed to raise doubts about whether Roe v. Wade, the landmark Supreme Court ruling that found a constitutional right to an abortion, was “settled law.” |
| He was considering a draft opinion piece to be run under the names of anti-abortion women that stated, “it is widely accepted by legal scholars across the board that Roe v. Wade and its progeny are the settled law of the land.” Responding to the email, the future Supreme Court nominee wrote, “I am not sure that all legal scholars refer to Roe as the settled law of the land at the Supreme Court level since Court can always overrule its precedent, and three current Justices on the Court would do so.” | He was considering a draft opinion piece to be run under the names of anti-abortion women that stated, “it is widely accepted by legal scholars across the board that Roe v. Wade and its progeny are the settled law of the land.” Responding to the email, the future Supreme Court nominee wrote, “I am not sure that all legal scholars refer to Roe as the settled law of the land at the Supreme Court level since Court can always overrule its precedent, and three current Justices on the Court would do so.” |
| The documents do not indicate how Judge Kavanaugh would rule, but they are fodder for Democratic questioning. Senator Dianne Feinstein of California, the ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, asked Mr. Kavanaugh about the document, noting it had been made public. | The documents do not indicate how Judge Kavanaugh would rule, but they are fodder for Democratic questioning. Senator Dianne Feinstein of California, the ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, asked Mr. Kavanaugh about the document, noting it had been made public. |
| Mr. Kavanaugh defended the statement he made in the email, and said “the broader point was simply that it was overstating something about legal scholars.” | Mr. Kavanaugh defended the statement he made in the email, and said “the broader point was simply that it was overstating something about legal scholars.” |
| “I’m always concerned about accuracy, and I thought it was not an accurate description of all legal scholars,” he said, adding later that Roe v. Wade is “an important precedent. It has been reaffirmed many times.” He declined to comment directly on Ms. Feinstein’s questions as to whether it is “correct law.” | “I’m always concerned about accuracy, and I thought it was not an accurate description of all legal scholars,” he said, adding later that Roe v. Wade is “an important precedent. It has been reaffirmed many times.” He declined to comment directly on Ms. Feinstein’s questions as to whether it is “correct law.” |
| NARAL Pro-Choice America, the abortion rights lobby, jumped on the release immediately: “Brett Kavanaugh’s emails are rock solid evidence that he has been hiding his true beliefs and if he is given a lifetime seat on the Supreme Court, he will gut Roe v. Wade, criminalize abortion, and punish women. Everything he said yesterday in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee about ‘settled law’ was nothing but a show to mislead the Senate.” | NARAL Pro-Choice America, the abortion rights lobby, jumped on the release immediately: “Brett Kavanaugh’s emails are rock solid evidence that he has been hiding his true beliefs and if he is given a lifetime seat on the Supreme Court, he will gut Roe v. Wade, criminalize abortion, and punish women. Everything he said yesterday in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee about ‘settled law’ was nothing but a show to mislead the Senate.” |
| [Read more about the documents, here.] | [Read more about the documents, here.] |
| A tantalizing moment on Wednesday came when Senator Patrick J. Leahy, Democrat of Vermont, asked Judge Kavanaugh whether he had meetings with Manuel Miranda, a former Senate Republican aide who was caught stealing files from the computers of Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats, including Mr. Leahy. | |
| Judge Kavanaugh denied ever knowingly receiving stolen material when he was a White House aide tasked with getting President George W. Bush’s judicial nominees confirmed. | |
| On Thursday, questioning Judge Kavanaugh a second time, Mr. Leahy described and put up on posters several emails about his interactions with Mr. Miranda, indicating that he had received permission from the committee chairman around 3 a.m. to disclose them, They included one from March 2003 in which Mr. Miranda had sent Judge Kavanaugh several pages of Democratic talking points, marked on the subject line “not for distribution,” and another in which another Republican Senate staff member who was also on numerous correspondence with Mr. Miranda and Judge Kavanaugh that referred to “spying” and “a mole.” | |
| Judge Kavanaugh reiterated that he had no knowledge that Mr. Miranda had infiltrated Democratic files, saying he likely assumed that the Republican staff was getting information from friends who were Democratic staff members and nothing had raised red flags at the time. | |
| “I was born at night but not last night,” Mr. Leahy said. “If I had something that somebody said, we have stolen this or don’t tell anybody we have this, I think it would raise some red flags.” | |
| Mr. Leahy also pressed him about more than 100,000 documents from his period as a Bush White House lawyer that the Senate has not been permitted to see, even on a confidential basis, because a lawyer for President Bush has said they are subject to executive privilege. Mr. Leahy asked whether Judge Kavanaugh could confirm that none of those contain more such emails from Mr. Miranda. | |
| “Senator, I am not involved in the documents process,” Judge Kavanaugh. “I don’t know what’s in them.” | |
| Replied Mr. Leahy: “That is convenient.” | |
| Even as The Times were publishing secret emails involving Judge Kavanaugh, the Judiciary Committee chairman, Charles E. Grassley of Iowa, was trying to address Democratic frustrations over public access to committee confidential documents. | Even as The Times were publishing secret emails involving Judge Kavanaugh, the Judiciary Committee chairman, Charles E. Grassley of Iowa, was trying to address Democratic frustrations over public access to committee confidential documents. |
| Mr. Grassley said that “before the day is over” members should have the documents that they want to incorporate into their questions, and the committee is working to accommodate last-minute requests to release those documents, assisted by the Justice Department. | Mr. Grassley said that “before the day is over” members should have the documents that they want to incorporate into their questions, and the committee is working to accommodate last-minute requests to release those documents, assisted by the Justice Department. |
| But Senator Cory Booker, the Democrat from New Jersey, looking to expedite the process, said he would release a confidential document — an email he said was titled “racial profiling” — that he sought to question Mr. Kavanaugh on. | But Senator Cory Booker, the Democrat from New Jersey, looking to expedite the process, said he would release a confidential document — an email he said was titled “racial profiling” — that he sought to question Mr. Kavanaugh on. |
| “That document does reveal his thinking about that issue at the time,” Mr. Booker said, and later added that “I am ready to accept the full responsibility for what I have done and I stand by the public’s right to have access to this document.” | “That document does reveal his thinking about that issue at the time,” Mr. Booker said, and later added that “I am ready to accept the full responsibility for what I have done and I stand by the public’s right to have access to this document.” |
| [Read the document here] | [Read the document here] |
| Other Democrats on the committee appeared to back Mr. Booker, and Senator Mazie Hirono of Hawaii, said she, too would look to release committee confidential documents. Documents obtained by The Times also showed that Kavanaugh wrote that prepared testimony “needs to make clear that any program targeting Native Hawaiians as a group is subject to strict scrutiny and of questionable validity under the Constitution.” | Other Democrats on the committee appeared to back Mr. Booker, and Senator Mazie Hirono of Hawaii, said she, too would look to release committee confidential documents. Documents obtained by The Times also showed that Kavanaugh wrote that prepared testimony “needs to make clear that any program targeting Native Hawaiians as a group is subject to strict scrutiny and of questionable validity under the Constitution.” |
| “I am not willing to concede that there is any legitimacy to this entire committee confidential process in this hearing,” Senator Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island said. “Nothing sensitive, nothing personal classified or confidential has been released.” | “I am not willing to concede that there is any legitimacy to this entire committee confidential process in this hearing,” Senator Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island said. “Nothing sensitive, nothing personal classified or confidential has been released.” |
| Senator John Cornyn of Texas, the No. 2 Republican in the Senate, told Mr. Booker releasing the committee confidential documents would be “irresponsible and outrageous.” | Senator John Cornyn of Texas, the No. 2 Republican in the Senate, told Mr. Booker releasing the committee confidential documents would be “irresponsible and outrageous.” |
| ”No senator deserves to sit on this committee or serve in the Senate if they decide to be a law onto themselves,” he said. | ”No senator deserves to sit on this committee or serve in the Senate if they decide to be a law onto themselves,” he said. |
| Late in Wednesday’s proceedings, the questioning finally reached Senator Kamala Harris, Democrat of California, and she launched into tense questioning that centered around whether Judge Kavanaugh had ever discussed the Russia investigation by the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, with a lawyer or lawyers from the law firm of President Trump’s longtime personal lawyer, Marc Kasowitz. | Late in Wednesday’s proceedings, the questioning finally reached Senator Kamala Harris, Democrat of California, and she launched into tense questioning that centered around whether Judge Kavanaugh had ever discussed the Russia investigation by the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, with a lawyer or lawyers from the law firm of President Trump’s longtime personal lawyer, Marc Kasowitz. |
| Judge Kavanaugh appeared somewhat baffled, but he would not offer a blanket “no” because he said he didn’t know the names of every lawyer who worked for the firm, and he had discussed the Mueller investigation with lawyers and judges. | Judge Kavanaugh appeared somewhat baffled, but he would not offer a blanket “no” because he said he didn’t know the names of every lawyer who worked for the firm, and he had discussed the Mueller investigation with lawyers and judges. |
| “I think you’re thinking of someone, and you don’t want to tell us,” Ms. Harris said without elaboration. | “I think you’re thinking of someone, and you don’t want to tell us,” Ms. Harris said without elaboration. |
| Senator Orrin G. Hatch, Republican of Utah, gave Judge Kavanaugh an opportunity on Thursday to revisit Ms. Harris’s line of questioning. Mr. Kavanaugh responded by acknowledging he doesn’t know everyone who works at the firm, but said, “I don’t recall any conversations of that kind.” | Senator Orrin G. Hatch, Republican of Utah, gave Judge Kavanaugh an opportunity on Thursday to revisit Ms. Harris’s line of questioning. Mr. Kavanaugh responded by acknowledging he doesn’t know everyone who works at the firm, but said, “I don’t recall any conversations of that kind.” |
| “I haven’t had any inappropriate conversations about that investigation with anyone,” Judge Kavanaugh said. “I’ve never given anyone any winks, hints, forecasts, previews, nothing, about my view as a judge, or how I would rule as a judge on that or anything related to that.” | “I haven’t had any inappropriate conversations about that investigation with anyone,” Judge Kavanaugh said. “I’ve never given anyone any winks, hints, forecasts, previews, nothing, about my view as a judge, or how I would rule as a judge on that or anything related to that.” |
| In a letter last June to Mr. Mueller, Mr. Kasowitz cited a majority opinion by Judge Kavanaugh, without naming him, saying, “The President may decline to prosecute certain violators of federal law just as the President may pardon certain violators of federal law. The President may decline to prosecute or may pardon because of the President’s own constitutional concerns about a law or because of policy objections to the law, among other reasons.” | In a letter last June to Mr. Mueller, Mr. Kasowitz cited a majority opinion by Judge Kavanaugh, without naming him, saying, “The President may decline to prosecute certain violators of federal law just as the President may pardon certain violators of federal law. The President may decline to prosecute or may pardon because of the President’s own constitutional concerns about a law or because of policy objections to the law, among other reasons.” |
| The question is, can and will the senator tell the public what she knows? | The question is, can and will the senator tell the public what she knows? |
| Most Supreme Court nominees express enthusiasm for cameras in the court at their confirmation hearings, only to change their minds after they join the court. Judge Kavanaugh took a different approach, saying only that “I will have an open mind on it.” | Most Supreme Court nominees express enthusiasm for cameras in the court at their confirmation hearings, only to change their minds after they join the court. Judge Kavanaugh took a different approach, saying only that “I will have an open mind on it.” |
| He said his current court, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, has recently allowed live audio coverage of its arguments. That development, he said, was a positive one. | He said his current court, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, has recently allowed live audio coverage of its arguments. That development, he said, was a positive one. |
| But he offered only vague comments on electronic coverage of the Supreme Court. The court generally releases audio recording of arguments at the end of the week and does not allow camera coverage. | But he offered only vague comments on electronic coverage of the Supreme Court. The court generally releases audio recording of arguments at the end of the week and does not allow camera coverage. |
| Judge Kavanaugh made one novel suggestion, offering that the court should consider camera coverage of the sessions in which the justices summarize their opinions from the bench. The court, which currently releases audio of those sessions months later, is unlikely to adopt the idea. The justices may be wary of suggesting to the public that their informal oral summaries, rather than their written opinions, precisely set out the details of decisions. | Judge Kavanaugh made one novel suggestion, offering that the court should consider camera coverage of the sessions in which the justices summarize their opinions from the bench. The court, which currently releases audio of those sessions months later, is unlikely to adopt the idea. The justices may be wary of suggesting to the public that their informal oral summaries, rather than their written opinions, precisely set out the details of decisions. |