WASHINGTON, D.C. – After being threatened with expulsion from the Senate yesterday by the number two ranking Republican in the chamber and threatened with an Ethics Committee investigation today, U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) is continuing to release documents pertaining to Judge Kavanaugh’s record that are marked “committee confidential” and have not been made available to the public.
All of the Committee Confidential documents that Booker has released to the public can be found here. There are 47 in total.
“The secretive process Senate Republicans have used to rush through their partisan nominee to our nation’s highest court makes a mockery of Senate precedent and our constitutional duty of advice and consent,” Booker said. “Each of us has an obligation to oppose rules and regulations that are unjust and unfair. This is one of those instances. The manner in which these documents were categorized is highly partisan and without basis. The public – and the Senators whose responsibility it is to vet this nominee – have the right to know where Judge Kavanaugh stands on important issues of law and justice.”
The latest batch of documents raise new questions about Kavanaugh’s relationship with Republican Senate Judiciary Committee staffer Manny Miranda, who stole documents from the Democratic staff of the Committee to help advance Bush administration nominees. Kavanaugh has sought to downplay his relationship with Miranda throughout this week’s hearing, but today’s documents show that Kavanaugh received stolen information about Democrats from Miranda.
The documents released today also pertain to Kavanaugh’s involvement with the nomination of Judge William Pryor to the Eleventh Circuit; Kavanaugh denied any involvement in the controversial judge’s nomination during his 2004 Senate confirmation hearing for the DC Circuit Court but today’s emails contradict that claim by showing Kavnaugh’s involvement in the Judge’s nomination.
Today’s release follow the release of 28 documents published yesterday by Booker. Those documents contained emails reflecting Kavanaugh’s concerning views on racial profiling and affirmative action, as well as his support of a Bush administration figure notorious for his role in the infamous torture memos.
In one of those emails, Judge Kavanaugh, while discussing a program designed to benefit Native American small businesses, wrote that “the desire to remedy societal discrimination is not a compelling interest.”
In a separate email, Judge Kavanaugh described efforts to benefit minority-owned businesses as a “naked racial set-aside,” and advised that the government should “file a brief saying that the program is unconstitutional…that is, in fact, my personal opinion.”
In yet another email, Kavanaugh pushes for John Yoo to be nominated to be a judge on the federal court of appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Yoo authored the infamous torture memo, which authorized abusive and grossly inhuman interrogation techniques that most experts agree amount to torture.
All of the Committee Confidential documents that Booker has released can be found here. There are 47 in total.
Last month, Booker joined Senate Democrats in advocating for the full public release of the documents related to Judge Kavanaugh’s record that had been marked Committee Confidential. Senate Republicans did not respond to their request.