BOOKER'S SUPREME SPARTA 'BUST
NJ senator flops on Kavanaugh questions
New Jersey Democratic Sen. Cory Booker turned a Supreme Court nomination hearing into a starring film role for himself Thursday — bizarrely claiming “this is the closest I’ll get to an ‘I am Spartacus’ moment.”
Booker was claiming he was standing up for the release of classified documents written by nominee Brett Kavanaugh about the use of “racial profiling” at airports in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks.
Booker made a point of saying he was willing to get expelled from the Senate by releasing e-mails the committee had deemed classified.
His “Spartacus” quote was a reference to the 1960 Oscar-winning movie starring Kirk Douglas as leader of a slave revolt.
He and his band are cornered by the Romans, who demanded to know who was Spartacus.
Everyone with Douglas identified themselves as Spartacus to protect the rebel leader.
It was unclear precisely what Booker meant, since the e-mails were declassified before his melodramatics, rendering his “Spartacus” speech meaningless.
As Booker continued grandstanding, Republican committee chair Chuck Grassley of Iowa lost patience.
“Can I ask you — can I ask you — can I ask you, how long you’re going to say the same thing three or four times?” he cracked.
The documents, meanwhile, provided no bombshell for the hearing.
Kavanaugh wwroteote in aan 2002 00 e-mail that he “generally favored” race--neutral security measures.sures.
He added thathat his colleagues needed to “grapple”” with “the interim question of what to doo before a truly effectiveive and comprehensiveve race-neutral
system mented” rorist federal nated high Kavanaugh, court, attack. by appeals-court is President to developed was prevent the also Trump pressed conservative another judge and for imple- nomi- on ter- the a 2003 Wade, that legalized e-mail the landmark he abortion wrote about 1973 nationally. ruling Roe v. gested In the striking e-mail, a line Kavanaugh from a draft sugopinion piece that had 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,” saying that the Suppremeee CouCourtt coucould overturn it. “I am not sure thatth all legal scholarsars refer to RRoe as the settled law of the landlan at the Supreme Court level since Court can always overroverrule its precedent, and three cucurrent Justices on the Court wowould do so.” He was liklikely referring to then-Justices William Rehnquist aand Antonin Sca- lia, and Justice Clarence Thomas, who had all dissented in a 1992 case that reaffirmed Roe v. Wade.
Kavanaugh told the Senate Judiciary Committee that he suggested the change because he thought the draft language was overstating the thinking of legal scholars at the time.
He again declined to say whether Roe v. Wade was correctly decided, though he indicated — as he had Wednesday — that it’s a decision that merits respect as “an important precedent of the Supreme Court” that has been “reaffirmed many times.”
Democrats weren’t buying what he was selling.
“Now the American people know what we know. We have every reason to believe Kavanaugh will overturn Roe v. Wade,” tweeted California Sen. Kamala Harris.