Kavanaugh bout likened to ‘mob rule’
Democrats, protesters vent at court hearing
WASHINGTON – Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh got his first chance to introduce himself to the American people Tuesday amid angry protests from Democrats over withheld documents and public demonstrations that resulted in dozens of arrests.
The most important seat on the high court is up for grabs after Justice Anthony Kennedy’s retirement. Democrats urged that confirmation proceedings be delayed, and a steady string of protesters shouting epithets had to be pulled from the room.
The hearing for President Donald Trump’s nominee was so tumultuous at times that Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, the second-ranking Senate Republican, labeled it “mob rule” and “unlike anything I’ve seen before in a confirmation hearing.”
Kavanaugh, 53, a federal appeals court judge who worked in the White House for President George W. Bush and helped investigate President Bill Clinton, sat dispassionately and took notes through more than six hours of speeches from
21 members of the Senate Judiciary Committee. His wife, Ashley, and two daughters sat behind him.
Democrats vented their ire at the withholding of thousands of documents from Kavanaugh’s White House years, particularly the 35 months he served as Bush’s staff secretary. They noted the White House withheld more than
100,000 pages based on executive privilege, and 42,000 pages were delivered just Monday night.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, the panel’s senior Democrat, said Republicans have “cast aside” the traditional vetting process “in favor of speed.” Democrats sought to postpone the hearing to give them more time to review the documents. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., asked Kavanaugh to “step up” and support their request.
“If you are confirmed after this truncated and concealed process, there will always be a taint, there will always be an asterisk,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn.
Trump didn’t wait for Kavanaugh to deliver his opening statement in the late afternoon before venting about the way his nominee was treated. He called it “a display of how mean, angry and despicable the other side is.”
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, RIowa, said the committee received 483,000 pages of records from Kavanaugh’s time working in the White House counsel’s office during the Bush administration. About
300,000 pages were posted on the committee’s website for public review, and the remainder were restricted to senators.
“The American people have unprecedented access and more materials to review for Judge Kavanaugh than they ever had for a Supreme Court nominee,” Grassley said in refusing to delay the hearing.
Dozens of people, the majority of them women, stood and shouted their opposition to Kavanaugh throughout the hearing. Most of them said they feared he would change the status quo on abortion, health care, gun rights and other issues likely to come before the court in decades to come.
Of particular concern to Democrats on the panel were the nominee’s evolving views on presidential power. Since going after Clinton for his affair with Monica Lewinsky, Kavanaugh has said presidents should be exempt from criminal investigation while in office, though he implied Congress would have to pass a law to that effect.
“President Trump may have selected you, Judge Kava- naugh, with an eye toward protecting himself,” Sen. Christopher Coons, D-Del., said.
Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., noted the judge’s name was added to a list of 25 potential nominees only “after the president was in jeopardy.”
When it was finally his turn to speak, Kavanaugh told the committee he would be “an umpire,” a phrase used by Chief Justice John Roberts when he went before the committee in
2005.
“I do not decide cases based on personal or policy preferences. I am not a pro-plaintiff or pro-defendant judge. I am not a pro-prosecution or prodefense judge,” Kavanaugh said. “I am a pro-law judge.”
No questions were asked of the nominee Tuesday, but the next two days probably will feature 18 hours of give-andtake.
If all goes according to Republicans’ plans, the committee will vote this month – almost surely along straight party lines – to send his nomination to the full Senate in hopes of getting him on the court by the start of the 2018 term Oct. 1.
More important is making certain nothing stands in Kavanaugh’s way that would delay confirmation beyond the elections in November, when Democrats have an outside shot of winning a Senate majority.
Kavanaugh stands to inherit the seat from Kennedy, who was the perennial deciding vote on 5-4 cases, usually siding with the four conservatives but swinging to the liberals’ side on abortion, affirmative action, gay rights and other social issues.
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., listed 73 cases over the past 12 years in which the court ruled 5-4 along conservativeliberal lines and Republican and corporate interests won “every damned time.”
Kavanaugh has been on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit for
12 years and has written 307 opinions, concurrences and dissents.
During the hearing, Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, described Kavanaugh as “qualified,” only to be interrupted by a woman who stood and shouted, “How is he qualified if you won’t show us the record?” An irritated Hatch said, “These people are so out of line” and called one protester a “loudmouth.”
Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., said the orchestrated protests had little to do with Kavanaugh’s record. Instead, he said, the Supreme Court has become the latest political battlefield.
Attacks on Kavanaugh are “patently absurd,” Sasse said. “The deranged comments actually don’t have anything to do with you.”
Blumenthal and Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., told Kavanaugh they will question him about Trump’s tweet attacking Attorney General Jeff Sessions and the Department of Justice and defending two Republican congressmen who were indicted on federal criminal charges.
Flake said he wants to hear Kavanaugh explain his views on the limits of presidential power. Blumenthal said Kavanaugh could be the pivotal vote in deciding “whether we have a system of checks and balances or an imperial presidency.”
Questioning will begin Wednesday, and Friday will focus on panels of supporters and opponents.