[C]alling the confirmation hearing for Brett Kavanaugh “not only shameful” but “a sham,” Sen. Patrick Leahy said Tuesday, “This is the most incomplete, the most partisan, the least transparent vetting for any Supreme Court nominee I have ever seen. And I have seen more of those than any person serving in the Senate today.”
The comments came during the Vermont Democrat’s opening statement, as the Senate Judiciary Committee began its review of President Trump’s nominee to fill a vacancy on the high court left by the retirement of Associate Justice Anthony Kennedy.
In his 12-minute remarks, Leahy voiced concern over the lack of access to documents from Kavanaugh’s time as a lawyer in President George W. Bush’s administration during which he advised the president on such issues as same-sex marriage, torture and abortion rights.
Leahy also argued that Trump may have nominated Kavanaugh in part because of the appeals court judge’s views on presidential immunity from criminal charges on acts committed while in office. Special counsel Robert Mueller is investigating members of president’s 2016 campaign team for possible collusion with Russian interference in the election and obstruction of justice.
“It seems that you may have intrigued him for another reason: your expansive view of executive power — and executive immunity,” Leahy said. “You’ve taken the unorthodox position that presidents should not be burdened with a criminal or civil investigation while in office. I find it difficult to imagine that your views on this subject escaped the attention of President Trump, who seems increasingly fixated on his own ballooning legal jeopardy.”
Leahy and his fellow Democrats also demanded time to review 42,000 pages of documents that had just been sent to the Senate late Monday night. However, committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said that the documents had been reviewed by those in the majority or members of their staff.
“The notion that anyone here has properly reviewed them or seen them at all is laughable,” Leahy said. “It doesn’t pass the giggle test.That alone would be reason enough to postpone during normal times, but nothing about this is normal.”
Before the hearing began, Democratic committee members met in front of the nearby Supreme Court building to protest the haste shown by Republicans to push the nomination proceedings through while only having access to 10 percent of Kavanaugh’s professional records.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., said the Democratic caucus had gathered “to essentially state a silent protest” because Kavanaugh has been “nominated to a seat that’s pivotal and will be the deciding vote on some of the most important issues of our day. …”
“We will attend the meetings, we will question assiduously, but we want to express our concerns,” she said.
An hour later, Kavanaugh took his seat just after 9:30 a.m. Grassley, however, was unable to make his opening statement until just before 11 as Democrats repeatedly demanded the floor to express concerns over proceedings.
Both Sens. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., and Cory Booker, D-N.J., called for the hearing to be adjourned until proper vetting had been accomplished.
Grassley denied the motion, saying he believed the Democrats were taking advantage of his “decency and integrity” by instating “mob rule” in the committee.
Leahy asked Grassley for permission to speak and said “everything is under doubt” in the proceedings, from the lack of documents to the haste with which Republicans were trying to proceed with the nomination.
Amid disruptions from the public, including shouts of “please vote no” and one Vermont woman being removed from the committee hearing room, Grassley again refused to adjourn the hearing and moved on with opening statements.
RAD member Vickie Lampron of Bennington was just arrested for protesting Kavanaugh and disrupting the Senate Hearing! (Apologies for video quality. Kate was threatened with arrest for filming). #VTPoli #BrettBye #StopKavanaugh #CancelKavanaugh @PplsAction @womensmarch pic.twitter.com/lQqebL8BKt
— Rights & Democracy (@RightsVT) September 4, 2018
“I’m just sorry to see the Senate Judiciary Committee descend this way,” Leahy said in response to the ruling. “This is not the Senate Judiciary Committee I sat on when I joined the U.S. Senate”
The division between the parties on whether Kavanaugh’s proceedings should continue are reflected in a recent ABC News/Washington Post poll — published hours before the hearing began — in which 38 percent of Americans said Kavanaugh should be confirmed while 39 percent said he should not win approval.
Opening statements continued throughout the afternoon and Kavanaugh was scheduled to be sworn in and make his opening remarks. Questioning is to begin Wednesday and continue until late in the week.
