Democrats Blast Move To Withhold Some Kavanaugh Records
Source: Bloomberg
By Bill Allison, 3 hrs. ago.
(Bloomberg) -- 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, even as a top Republican predicted he would be approved by a healthy margin.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York said in a tweet 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 makings of a cover up.” Dick 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 American 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 conferring with the White House and the Justice Department, some records would be withheld on the grounds of executive privilege.
‘Candid Advice’ According to the letter, the bulk of the documents withheld 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. Kavanaugh “dealt with some of the most sensitive communications of any White House official,” the letter said...More...
Read more: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/democrats-blast-move-to-withhold-some-kavanaugh-records/ar-BBMM8Hd
Trump's White House is asserting executive privilege to protect communications of the Bush White House.
“It’s not normal,” Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, who like Durbin is a Judiciary Committee member, said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” about the withholding of documents, adding that some she’s seen raise “very interesting questions” about the nominee’s views that she’s unable to discuss.
“The Democrats have more than enough information to understand that this is a highly qualified jurist that should be the next Supreme Court justice,” Sen. Ron Johnson (R) of Wisconsin said on ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday. “In an earlier time, 30 years ago, he would have passed unanimously.”
Kavanaugh’s nomination has worried some senators concerned about his views on decisions such as Roe v. Wade in 1973, which established a woman’s right to obtain an abortion. Durbin also raised concerns about Kavanaugh’s views on presidential accountability, given the convictions of Trump associates stemming from Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election and potential collusion by the Trump campaign.
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wants to know about spending $200K on Washington Nationals baseball tickets.
"Did You Go to a Washington Nationals Game With Supreme Court Nominee Brett Kavanaugh? Trump’s pick is a baseball fan who racked up considerable debt buying season tickets. Help us figure out who went with the nominated judge." ProPublica, Aug. 13, '18. https://www.propublica.org/getinvolved/brett-kavanaugh-nationals-baseball-supreme-court
