MYSTERY WOMAN?
Feds given confidential Kavanaugh info
WASHINGTON — A cryptic allegation of misconduct by a mystery woman created a new flashpoint in the already escalating partisan fight over federal Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Yesterday the Senate Judiciary Committee’s top Democrat, Sen. Dianne Feinstein said in a statement that she notified federal authorities about information she received about Kavanaugh from a source who “strongly requested confidentiality.”
The person “declined to come forward or press the matter further, and I have honored that decision,” Feinstein said. “I have, however, referred the matter to federal investigative authorities.” Feinstein declined to comment beyond the statement.
The statement came after a report in the Intercept that Feinstein was withholding a letter relating to Kavanaugh from the rest of the committee.
The White House shot back, saying that no impropriety had been alleged during the lengthy confirmation process, which included Kavanaugh meeting with Feinstein, until now.
“Not until the eve of his confirmation has Sen. Feinstein or anyone raised the specter of new ‘information’ about him,” said White House spokeswoman Kerri Kupec in a statement.
Conservatives blasted the move as a last-minute Hail Mary by Democrats determined to torpedo Kavanaugh’s bid.
“This has all the indicators of an 11th-hour character assassination and a desperate attempt to delay and defeat the nomination of Judge Kavanaugh,” said Carrie Severino, chief counsel at Judicial Crisis Network, a conservative group that has spent millions in ad buys urging lawmakers to support Kavanaugh’s nomination.
Feinstein’s statement came just after the Senate Judiciary Committee, which was scheduled yesterday to vote on whether to advance Kavanaugh’s nomination to the full Senate, delayed that vote until next week and Democrats continued to demand more time to fully vet Kavanaugh’s record.
During the session, Feinstein sought to subpoena documents from Kavanaugh’s tenure as President George W. Bush’s White House staff secretary.
“What in Judge Kavanaugh’s records are Republicans hiding?” Feinstein asked. Republicans blocked that and other motions made by Democrats.
Last night, Sen. Cory Booker (DN.J.) for the second time made public documents about Kavanaugh’s White House work that had been provided to committee members on a confidential basis. Booker had already been referred to the Senate Ethics committee for his first disclosure of confidential documents, although those documents were made public soon after.
Kavanaugh also provided written responses to questions from the committee last night. In those responses, Kavanaugh said he did not know Fred Guttenberg was the father of a Parkland, Fla., school shooting victim when he turned and walked away from him during a break in last week’s hearing.
“I assumed he was a protestor,” Kavanaugh wrote, added that he would have listened to him if he’d known his identity.