Democrats continue attempts to block Kavanaugh Supreme Court confirmation

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Democrats mounted an attempt Thursday to paint Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh as a foe of abortion and a likely defender of President Donald Trump if he makes it to the high court. But their chances of blocking Trump’s nominee seemed to fade away by the end of a second marathon day of testimony in his confirmation hearing.

Questioning of the 53-year-old appellate judge wound down without him revealing much about his judicial stances or making any serious mistakes that might jeopardize his confirmation. In what almost seemed like a celebration, Kavanaugh’s two daughters returned to the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing room for the final hours of testimony, accompanied by teammates on Catholic school basketball teams their father has coached.

The hearing pivoted during the day to Roe v. Wade, the high court’s landmark abortion case. The Democrats appeared to hope they would stop Kavanaugh by branding him as a justice who might vote to overturn the ruling.

Asked about it by the committee’s top Democrat, Dianne Feinstein of California, Kavanaugh reiterated his previous testimony that “Roe v. Wade is an important precedent of the Supreme Court.”

Kavanaugh followed long-established tradition by declining to answer questions about possible future cases. When Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut invited him to denounce Trump’s criticism of federal judges, the nominee demurred.

“The way we stand up is by deciding cases and controversies independently without fear or favor,” Kavanaugh said.

Some of the debate among senators has focused more on the disclosure of documents than on Kavanaugh’s record.

Democratic Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey, along with Harris — both potential presidential candidates in 2020 — said he was willing to risk fallout over releasing confidential documents about Kavanaugh.

In fact, some of the documents the Democrats wanted disclosed had already been released hours earlier, in a pre-dawn disclosure approved by Bill Burck, the attorney who serves as presidential records lawyer for Bush.

“We were surprised to learn about Senator Booker’s histrionics this morning because we had already told him he could use the documents publicly,” Burck said by email. Booker had sought release late Wednesday, after questioning Kavanaugh and drawing rebuke from his colleagues for disclosing the confidential documents.

Booker’s spokeswoman later claimed that by raising the issue publicly, the senator able to “shame the committee into agreeing” to release the pages to the public.

Protesters have repeatedly tried to interrupt the hearing, which has carried strong political overtones ahead of the November congressional elections.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell dismissed the protesters’ antics. “There’s no hecklers’ veto,” he said.

Republicans hope to confirm Kavanaugh in time for the first day of the new Supreme Court term, Oct. 1.