Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, announced Monday that his staff has reviewed hundreds of thousands of pages related to Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh.
“My staff has completed review of 430k plus pages of Kavanaugh records I assume democrats have done the same so they are ready for his hearing next wk 430k pages of docs are 2x more than any other SCOTUS nom,” Grassley tweeted Monday.
My staff has completed review of 430k plus pages of Kavanaugh records I assume democrats have done the same so they are ready for his hearing next wk 430k pages of docs are 2x more than any other SCOTUS nom
— ChuckGrassley (@ChuckGrassley) August 27, 2018
Confirmation hearings for Kavanaugh are slated to begin on Sept. 4. Meanwhile, Democrats and others have sought to unearth more of Kavanaugh’s records, as he has accrued a significant paper trail throughout his career.
In addition to working on independent counsel Kenneth Starr’s investigation into former President Bill Clinton, Kavanaugh also served in the White House as staff secretary and an associate counsel for President George W. Bush and wrote almost 300 opinions during his time as a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., challenged Grassley’s boast, condemning what he said was “unprecedented secrecy.”
“This is new. Sen Grassley now admitting the Senate will only receive half the documents that he requested (~900k), before the hearing starts,” Schumer said in response. “That means Senators will have seen only 6% of Kavanaugh’s records, & the public will have seen 3%. This is unprecedented secrecy.”
“Further, these documents aren’t the official National Archives’ curation of White House docs, but the ones that have been pre-screened by Kavanaugh’s former deputy and George Bush’s private lawyer,” Schumer added. “The Senate will likely have ZERO records from the Archives by next week’s hearing.”
Further, these documents aren’t the official National Archives’ curation of White House docs, but the ones that have been pre-screened by Kavanaugh’s former deputy and George Bush’s private lawyer. The Senate will likely have ZERO records from the Archives by next week’s hearing.
— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) August 27, 2018
Democrats have also sought to delay Kavanaugh’s confirmations hearings after President Trump’s former campaign chairman Paul Manafort was convicted and his personal lawyer Michael Cohen pleaded guilty to charges including campaign finance violations, but Grassley has maintained that they won’t not be stalled.
Kavanaugh is the second Supreme Court justice Trump has nominated since taking office. Neil Gorsuch was Trump’s first pick; he was confirmed to the seat vacated by the late Justice Antonin Scalia.
