Merkley makes last-ditch court bid for Kavanaugh documents

Source: Politico



Oregon Democrat asks judge to order log of withheld records before vote on Supreme Court nomination.

By JOSH GERSTEIN 10/03/2018 06:43 AM EDT

Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) is asking a federal court for an immediate order requiring disclosure of more details about withheld records of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh's service as a White House attorney under President George W. Bush.

With critical Senate votes looming on Kavanaugh's nomination, lawyers for Merkley filed a motion early Wednesday asking U.S. District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson to issue a temporary restraining order requiring President Donald Trump to produce a log of more than 100,000 pages of documents kept from the Senate on grounds of executive privilege.

"Senator Merkley believes that the actions of the Defendants have deprived him and the Senate of the requisite record on which to engage in the advice and consent function, effectively rendering the process irrevocably deficient and stripping the Senate of a constitutionally meaningful process," Merkley's lawyers wrote in the new motion, submitted in connection with a lawsuit Merkley filed last week.

"The executive branch’s interference in the Senate’s ability to deliberate is unprecedented, effectively denying Senator Merkley and other colleagues the constitutionally meaningful vote to which they are entitled. While a nominal vote on Judge Kavanaugh will undoubtedly occur on the Senate floor, its value will have been cancelled by the constitutionally impoverished deliberations preceding it," the motion argues.

Read more: https://www.politico.com/story/2018/10/03/merkley-kavanaugh-documents-release-863781