Democrats: Withholding key records ‘a cover-up’

WASHINGTON — Senate Democrats criticized the withholding of documents ahead of Tuesday’s start of confirmation hearings for President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.

Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., claimed on Twitter that the decision to hold back more than 100,000 pages of documents from Kavanaugh’s work in President George W. Bush’s administration was unprecedented for nominees and “has all the mak- ings of a cover-up.” Rich- ard Durbin of Illinois, the No. 2 Senate Democrat, said only 6 percent of material requested will be released “if we are lucky.”

“If he’s so proud of his conservative credentials, show us the record, stand before us, trust the Amer- ican people and they will trust you,” Durbin said on “Fox News Sunday.”

The Senate Judiciary Committee said Saturday that the release of records is nearly complete. But William Burck, a lawyer representing Bush in the document production, said in a letter released by the committee that after confer- ring with the White House and the Justice Department, some records would be withheld on the grounds of exec- utive privilege.

According to the letter, most of the documents with- held cover “deliberations and candid advice” about potential nominees for federal courts, while the remainder include substantive communications between Bush and his staff regarding executive orders and legislation. Kava- naugh “dealt with some of the most sensitive communi- cations of any White House official,” the letter said.

While Republicans have emphasized that more than 440,500 pages of material from Kavanaugh have been released, Democrats have sought more access to documents from his time as a lawyer in the Bush administration before being confirmed as a federal judge in 2006. Those documents, they say, would provide insights into his thinking on issues including abortion and presidential investigations.

“It’s not normal,” Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., who, like Durbin, is a Judiciary Committee member, said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” about the withholding of documents.

Republicans have said Kavanaugh’s views can be better assessed by studying the more than 300 opinions he has written as a judge on the federal appeals court in Washington.