Kavanaugh hearings continue
WASHINGTON — Democrats hoping to block Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court confirmation pivoted Thursday to the deeply contentious issue of abortion after disclosure of an email he once wrote suggesting the high court’s landmark Roe v. Wade ruling wasn’t universally considered settled law. But their long-shot chances of defeating him appeared to be fading.
In the email in question, Kavanaugh was reviewing and commenting on a potential op-ed article in support of two judicial nominees while he was working at the George W. Bush White House in 2003. The document had been among many held by the Senate Judiciary Committee as confidential, over the objections of Democrats, who have argued throughout this week’s hearing that Republicans have shielded important papers about Presidential Donald Trump’s nominee.
“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,” Kavanaugh wrote, referring to justices at the time, in an email to a Republican Senate aide. The document was partially redacted.
The Trump White House quickly dashed off a memo saying Kavanaugh was merely discussing what “legal scholars” thought, not himself.
Asked about it by Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah, Kavanaugh said the same, that he was noting “what legal scholars might say” and offered his comment on the proposed article because he’s “always concerned with accuracy.”