Goodwin Liu's letter to Leahy on the addendum to his Senate Judiciary Committee questionnaire

April 5, 2010

The Honorable Patrick J. Leahy
Chairman
Committee on the Judiciary
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510


Dear Mr. Chairman:

As noted in my recent letters of March 3, March 16, and March 20, the original submission of my Senate Questionnaire on February 24 inadvertently omitted a number of items under Question 12 that were subsequently brought to my attention. These omissions and others that have become apparent since March 20 have prompted me to search anew and more comprehensively for materials responsive to the Questionnaire. With this letter, I am submitting a revised answer to Question 12 that includes additional materials I have identified. I would like to offer a sincere and personal apology to you, to the Ranking Member, and to the entire Committee for the omissions in my original submission. In preparing my original submission, I made a good faith effort to track down all of my publications and speeches over the years. I checked my personal calendar, I performed a variety of electronic searches, and I searched my memory to produce the original list. But I have since realized that those efforts were not sufficient. In some instances, I missed items I should have found the first time. In other instances, I now realize I appeared at informal events that escaped my memory, did not appear on my calendar, did not turn up in my first set of searches, but do appear on a webpage noting the occasion. Moreover, I did not think to include various occasions when I spoke at informal seminars, brown bag lunches, or student or alumni gatherings on campus or elsewhere because I viewed those occasions as part of my day-to-day work as a faculty member, akin to teaching class or meeting with students. I now understand that those should have been included as well.

The revised answer to Question 12 also contains a description of the searches conducted in order to locate responsive material. I certainly do not intend for there to be any mystery about how the list of items was prepared. If there are other searches you would like me to conduct, please let me know, and I will be happy to do so immediately.

In addition, because only the Questionnaire itself—and not the attachments or index I provided with my original submission—was posted publicly, there has been some confusion as to whether relevant text and video links were disclosed. For this reason, I am providing links to the documents produced. These documents may be accessed by clicking on the relevant entry in the revised answer to Question 12. Where I do not have a responsive document relating to a particular item, I provide a weblink to a video, transcript, report, or
announcement of the event in all instances where I can find one. It is my hope that this information will enable the Committee and the public to easily access the listed material.

Finally, in order to aid the Committee’s consideration of these materials, I am separately attaching a list of the items in the revised answer to Question 12 that were not included in my previous submissions.

Let me assure you, as forthrightly as I can, that none of the omissions in my original submission was intentional. I fully appreciate the importance of thoroughness for the effective functioning of the Committee’s process. Moreover, I believe it is in my own interest to make the most complete disclosure I possibly can. I am sorry my original submission did not include the items that have come to my attention since then, and I hope the revised answer to Question 12 rectifies the situation.

Thank you for allowing this revision to my Questionnaire, and please accept my sincere and humblest apology for the omissions in my original submission. If I find any additional responsive materials, I will of course submit them to the Committee forthwith.

Sincerely,
Goodwin Liu

http://judiciary.senate.gov/nominations/111thCongressJudicialNominations/upload/GoodwinLiu-PublicQuestionnaireSupplements.pdf


He is doing more than enough to be transparent and note that the Republicans did not view Chief Justice Robert's supplemental submissions as an attempt to hide information. Senate Judiciary Republicans are expert hypocrites.



Previous posts

Progressives to rejoice, Obama nominates Goodwin Liu (Thu Feb-25-10)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x7789498

Editorial: Liu is more than qualified to serve on appeals court (Mon Mar-01-10)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x7816130

Fox News composes a hit piece on Obama nominee Goodwin Liu (Fri Mar-05-10)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x7846137

Oakland Tribune: Obama judicial nominee already a target (Sat Mar-06-10)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x7854860

9th Circuit candidate's career marked by rapid ascent, wide-ranging roles (Goodwin Liu) (Wed Mar-10-10)
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-goodwin-liu9-2010mar09,0,1301596.story

AP: Young appeals court nominee raises liberal hopes (Sun Mar-14-10)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x7912313

Testimony of Professor Goodwin Liu on the Nomination of Judge Samuel A. Alito, Jr. January 10, 2006 (Tue Mar-16-10)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=7925476&mesg_id=7925476

San Francisco Chronicle: Obama nominee Goodwin Liu an unassuming man (Tue Mar-16-10)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x7929953

Senate Judiciary Committee schedules Goodwin Liu nomination hearing (Tue Mar-16-10)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x7930102

WP: Law professor Goodwin Liu may be test case for Obama judicial picks (Mon Mar-22-10)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x7985276

ABC: SCOTUS Battle Quietly Brews, Contentious Hearing for Lower Court Nominee to Foreshadow (Mon Mar-22-10)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x7985782

Ring-wing response to video threatens Obama judicial nominee (Mon Mar-22-10)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x7986200

Websites form to support the nomination of Goodwin Liu (Tue Mar-23-10)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x7992722

LAT: Controversy Over Obama Judge, GOP "preparing to mount an assault" (Tue Mar-23-10)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x8000730

Senate Judiciary postpones the Goodwin Liu hearing "due to Republican objection" (Wed Mar-24-10)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x8010610

Senator Patrick Leahy Press Release: Republican Objections Now Stall Even Committee Progress (Thu Mar-25-10)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x8012621

Thomas Goldstein: A Hearing to Define "Mainstream" Judicial Views (Thu Mar-25-10)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x8012997

Goodwin Liu Hearing Rescheduled for April 16 (Sat Mar-27-10)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x8028717

NYT: An Exceptional Nominee (Sun Mar-28-10)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=103x526591

Majority of D.A.s in state oppose Obama nominee (Wed Mar-31-10)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x8055635

Senator Hatch: Goodwin liu "a controversial nominee" because his views "appear to be pretty liberal" (Wed Mar-31-10)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x8056270

Stanford Daily: Liu ‘91 turned to service on Farm (Thu Apr-01-10)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x8065314

Media Matters: Fox News falsely claims Liu says "reparations on the table" (Thu Apr-01-10)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x8065447

BLT: Conservatives Aim at 9th Circuit Nominee's Questionnaire (Thu Apr-01-10)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x8071363

The Nation: Liu confirmation "should be a no-brainer.” (Sat Apr-03-10)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x8078827

Fox News: Goodwin Liu "Under Fire" (Sat Apr-03-10)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x8079624

"Keeping Faith with the Constitution" by Goodwin Liu and Pamela Karlan available online (Sat Apr-03-10)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x8079660

LA Times - Goodwin Liu: A good choice for 9th Circuit (Tue Apr-06-10)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=103x528400

AP: Republicans step up opposition to liberal nominee (Tue Apr-06-10)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x8101317