Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee have submitted nearly 1,300 written questions to Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, a figure that tops the written questions submitted to every past Supreme Court nominee who testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee combined, the committee said Wednesday.
The written questions for the record were submitted to Kavanaugh following his four-day confirmation hearing last week, during which he took questions from the committee’s 21 members over a span of two days.
But since then, the Judiciary Committee’s 10 Democrats have submitted 1,278 written questions for Kavanaugh, an “unprecedented” number, the committee said.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., the committee’s top Democrat, submitted the most follow-up questions to Kavanaugh, with 241, followed by Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., who wants the Supreme Court hopeful to respond to 192 questions.
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According to the Senate Judiciary Committee, the volume of written questions for Kavanaugh is more than the combined number given to each previous Supreme Court nominee since the committee began hearing testimony from those tapped to the high court more than 75 years ago.
Past nominees have received a combined 1,247 questions for the record.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said Democrats’ actions are part of their efforts to slow down the nomination process.
“Submitting this many written questions appears to be just one more effort to gum up the process,” Grassley said in a statement. “It’s unnecessary and dilatory, especially when many have already decided to vote against Judge Kavanaugh. What more do they need to know to vote ‘no’?”
Coons and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., made public their questions to Kavanaugh, which span a range of issues.
Coons questioned Kavanaugh about his relationship with Judge Alex Kozinski, who he clerked for on the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Kozinski retired in December after numerous women accused him of sexual misconduct.
Among the questions for the record submitted by Coons to Kavanaugh was whether he received any emails from a sexually explicit email list reportedly maintained by Kozinski.
Coons also asked Kavanaugh what actions he took to have his name added to Trump’s list of 25 possible Supreme Court nominees. Kavanaugh’s name was added to the list, first rolled out in May 2016, in November 2017.
Whitehouse, meanwhile, probed Kavanaugh on his finances, and specifically Washington Nationals baseball tickets he purchased for himself and friends, who the senator wants identified.
He also asked whether Kavanaugh “ever sought treatment for a gambling addiction.”
White House spokesman Raj Shah denied that Kavanaugh ever received treatment for a gambling addiction and called the question “incendiary” and “baseless.”
The Senate Judiciary Committee placed Kavanaugh’s nomination on its agenda for a meeting Thursday, though committee Democrats are expected to request it be held over for at least one week.
Senate Republicans are aiming for the full Senate to vote on Kavanaugh’s nomination by the last week of September.
The Supreme Court’s next term begins Oct. 1.
