Judge Brett Kavanaugh's #SCOTUS hearings kick off this morning. Dems are furious at the number of docs being withheld re: his time in the White House under W. Bush. Republicans are defending the extent of disclosures. @chrisgeidner has been on it -->
The Kavanaugh hearing just got started and there's already chaos. Dems are interrupting Grassley as he starts to read his opening statement to protest the latest production of docs right before the hearing. Blumenthal is moving to adjourn. Grassley says they will proceed.
It began with Sen. Harris jumping in as soon as Grassley began, to say they had not been given the opportunity to review documents. Sen. Blumenthal pressed to adjourn. Now Sen. Booker is calling for time to debate the process.
Booker said he appeals to Grassley's sense of fairness and decency. Grassley responds that Booker is taking advantage of that decency.
Whitehouse now gets to the specific issue of docs being withheld as privileged, but without an official assertion of executive privilege that the committee can review. The latest on this, from @chrisgeidner: buzzfeednews.com/article/chrisg…
@chrisgeidner On the production of 42K pages last night, Grassley said the majority staff has already had time to review all the materials, so that's not a reason to delay the hearing
It now appears they're already back on track at Kavanaugh's hearing -- after Grassley gave his explanation about why the 42K page production last night doesn't merit a delay, he jumps right in to having Kavanaugh introduce his family, which Kavanaugh does
Spoke too soon: Harris just stopped Grassley to ask when they'll consider Blumenthal's motion to adjourn. Blumenthal presses the point. Coons and Klobuchar jump in to address the issue of wanting more time to review documents
Bringing it back to the courts: Sen. Whitehouse, advocating for a delay, says you'd be "hard-pressed" to find a court that wouldn't grant a continuance when a party did a 42K-page "document dump" the night before trial
Grassley says he'll let members talk if they've got something to say, noting that the hearing is scheduled to last all week. But he says he won't "accommodate all obstruction," and that it gets "pretty boring" to hear the same thing over and over again
Feinstein speaks about the nomination proceeding while the Trump admin is under the cloud of investigation. Then, Blumenthal renews his motion to adjourn. Grassley says it's the wrong forum to do so. Blumenthal asks to move into executive session. Grassley says it's out of order
Kavanaugh's #SCOTUS hearing kicks off with chaos, with Democrats pressing for more time and criticizing the latest production of 42K documents on the eve of the hearing, and protesters escorted out of the room buzzfeednews.com/article/zoetil…
More than an hour after Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing began, the members are giving opening statements. Dems appear to be letting it go ahead after their earlier protests, but demonstrators in the crowd are occasionally yelling out and disrupting things
During one such disruption by a demonstrator in the crowd, Hatch said the "loudmouth" should be removed. It was hard to hear the protester's comments in the video (I'm covering remotely, not in the room), here's more from @ToddRuger:
Sen. Cornyn referred to the events of this morning at Kavanaugh's #SCOTUS confirmation hearing as "pandemonium," noting the "poker faces" in the front row. Sen. Durbin: "What we've heard is the noise of democracy," disputes that this is "mob rule"
Durbin concludes by asking Kavanaugh to "step up" and ask to suspend the hearing "for the sake of this nation, for the sanctity of the constitution." Kavanaugh didn't say anything — he's watching from the witness table and not speaking during senators' opening remarks
Sen. Lee says that if members disagree with a decision Kavanaugh has made as a judge, they shouldn't focus on the outcome/result, but should explain why the legal analysis is wrong
Of Kavanaugh's dozens of speeches over the years at Federalist Society events (a prominent and influential conservative lawyers group), Sen. Whitehouse says "that looks like auditioning"
Sen. Cruz says the fight over Kavanaugh isn't really about documents or Kavanaugh's record (he noted there hasn't been a whole lot of discussion so far about Kavanaugh's DC Circuit opinions), but about relitigating the 2016 election
After Cruz finishes, Grassley says they're going to take a 30-minute break, and will return at "1:17" — he admonishes Kavanaugh to be on time, noting that Gorsuch was 10 minutes late (presumably referring to a break during that confirmation hearing last year)
Two big Qs going into the first day of Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing were: 1) Could Democrats find a way to stop or postpone the hearing, and 2) Was there any indication a Republican would break ranks. From what we've seen so far, the answer to both has been no
Kavanaugh's hearing has resumed after a short break. Here's what went down this morning: buzzfeednews.com/article/zoetil…
Sen. Klobuchar says Kavanaugh's hearing is "not normal," pointing to the events swirling around it -- from Russian interference in the election and Mueller's investigation to Trump's attacks on DOJ and federal judges who have ruled against his administration
Klobuchar lists a couple examples of Kavanaugh's writings she's concerned about: a law review article advocating the deferral of civil and criminal legal action against sitting presidents, his opinion opposing the structure of the Obama-era CFPB, his net neutrality dissent
Sasse says the "hysteria" isn't really about Kavanaugh, but the broader politicization of #SCOTUS: "People are gonna pretend that Americans have no historical memory and supposedly there haven’t been screaming protesters saying women are gonna die at every hearing for decades"
Sen. Flake is largely very complimentary of Kavanaugh, but says he shares Dem concerns about how the Trump admin understands separation of powers and rule of law, and will have Qs about that. He read this Trump tweet from yesterday:
Blumenthal also questioned Grassley's assertion that Republican committee staff were able to review the 42K pages of docs released yesterday, saying it took until early this a.m. to get the docs loaded in the computer platform used by both sides
Blumenthal renews his motion from this morning to adjourn. Grassley says the rules Blumenthal quotes only apply to the committee in executive session. Blumenthal asks where that's stated in the rules. Grassley counters by asking him to quote language contrary to his ruling
Blumenthal then moves to appeal Grassley's motion and for a roll call vote to overturn ruling; Grassley denies it, saying it would only be appropriate in executive business session. Blumenthal says he'll "proceed under protest"
Cornyn asks about members going beyond the 10 minutes they were supposed to have for opening remarks. Grassley said the hearing "got off to a very bad start," and that he hadn't been cutting people off and wouldn't do that now
Grassley: "I have always said to myself when advising other people either you run the committee or the committee runs you, and I let the committee run me this time" (he raises his voice to finish this thought because someone starts yelling from the crowd)
Blumenthal continues (fwiw he said he believed he still had time left) -- he says he'll ask Kavanaugh if Roe v. Wade and Brown v. Board of Ed were correctly decided. He's asked lower court nominees these Qs, and they've largely refused to answer, saying it wouldn't be appropriate
More recently, nominees have answered these types of questions by saying all SCOTUS opinions were correctly decided, as opposed to declining to answer and citing judicial ethics canons
Sen. Booker begins by telling Grassley that earlier this morning he wasn't questioning Grassley's integrity or decency, but appealing to it, in asking for more time to review Kavanaugh's record. Grassley: "If you worry about our friendship being affected, it will not be."
Booker reiterates the call for more time to wait for the full production of documents: "It will cause no harm or damage, except to have more of a full telling of what is at stake here."
Booker notes that Kavanaugh was a late addition to Trump's #SCOTUS shortlist (added in November), saying it only happened after the special counsel investigation was well underway, and that Kavanaugh has written about limiting the ability to prosecute a sitting president
Sen. Tillis says it is "personally insulting" for someone to suggest that because he's inclined to support Kavanaugh, he is "complicit in evil"
Sen. Harris, responding to criticism that Dems are politicizing the process, says that many political campaigns have been run with an intention of using SCOTUS "as a political tool"
Sen. Harris: "I am concerned your loyalty would be to the president who appointed you, and not to the Constitution of the United States"
Sen. Graham is the last senator to speak. Responding to the criticism that Kavanaugh is a partisan, Graham says the hearing is "shaping up to be the hypocrisy hearing," noting Justice Breyer worked for Sen. Ted Kennedy and Justice Ginsburg came from the ACLU
Graham is finished, which concludes opening remarks by the senators. Grassley is taking a 15-minute break, and then we'll hear introductions by former sec. of state Condoleezza Rice, Sen. Rob Portman, and attorney Lisa Blatt. And then Kavanaugh will give his opening statement
Condoleezza Rice is up first -- she and Kavanaugh were colleagues in the White House under W. Bush. "He is hardworking. He has a sense of humor. He seeks truth in facts. There is no detail too small to gain his attention. He makes those around him better. Brett is wise."
Next, Sen. Rob Portman, who also goes back with Kavanaugh to the W. Bush administration: "I visited with George W. Bush a few days ago and we talked about Brett. He put it simply: 'Brett Kavanaugh is a class act.'"
Final intro is by Lisa Blatt, a veteran appellate litigator, and self-described "liberal Democrat" who says Justice Ginsburg is her hero and that she voted for Hillary Clinton: "By any objective measure, Judge Kavanaugh is clearly qualified to serve on the Supreme Court"
Blatt: "If it were up to me, Justice Ginsburg would have all nine votes, but that's not our system, and the reality is, that the presidency and the Senate are in Republican hands. Judge Kavanaugh is the best choice that liberals could reasonably hope for in these circumstances."
Today's hearing will now conclude with Judge Kavanaugh delivering his opening statement -- questions will start tomorrow. Here are excerpts of Kavanaugh's remarks that the White House put out earlier today: 
Kavanaugh begins by thanking his introducers and senators who met with him, and then Trump: "As a judge and as a citizen, I was deeply impressed by the president's careful attention to the nomination process and by his thorough consideration of potential nominees"
Kavanaugh: "Our independent judiciary is the crown jewel of our constitutional republic. In our independent judiciary, the Supreme Court is the last line of defense for the separation of powers, and for the rights and liberties guaranteed by the Constitution."
Kavanaugh concludes: "If confirmed to the Supreme Court, I will keep an open mind in every case. I will do equal right to the poor and to the rich. I will always strive to preserve the Constitution of the United States and the American rule of law."
And that's a wrap. Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing will pick up tomorrow morning with questions from the senators. Here's what happened today: buzzfeednews.com/article/zoetil…
Per US Capitol Police, 61 people were removed from Kavanaugh's hearing and charged w/ disorderly conduct; 9 were removed from a Senate building and charged w/ crowding, obstructing, or incommoding. Both are misdemeanors, max penalty of 90 days in prison buzzfeednews.com/article/zoetil…
