Thread by @Hegemommy

As I already said, good morning to everyone but Grassley who just wished us good morning.

Senator Kamala Harris interrupts Grassley to object to the opening of the hearing. Grassley talks over Harris. Klobuchar joins in. Grassley continues with the introduction of Kavanaugh

Sen. Whitehouse just moved to adjourn and the chambers breaks out into applause

Protesters shouting and getting removed from chambers. Calling the hearings a mockery and travesty of justice which is completely true

Whitehouse calls for a roll call vote on his motion to adjourn.

Finally Dems trying to use process in their favor.

Grassley refuses.

Booker asked to be recognized. Grassley gavels him out of order

Booker appealing to Grassley's sense of decency which is good for the cameras but ultimately futile because Grassley has no decency

Booker refusing to turn the floor back over the Grassley.

We haven't even had Kavanaugh's family introduced yet

The document fight may be mundane but it is ultimately important because it gives Dems the procedural footing to object

Grassley says Booker is taking advantage of Grassley's decency and integrity by interrupting Kavanaugh's introduction and demanding the hearing be suspended

Hirono now joins in noting it is regular order for the committee to receive a complete record before confirmation hearings begin.

Grassley asks Hirono to stop so the hearing can proceed. Says the American public deserves the opportunity to hear if Kavanaugh is fit for the court or not.

Whitehouse now asks for a point of order, again invoking procedure FINALLY noting that documents are withheld on the basis of executive privilege but that privilege hasn't been correctly raised before the Judiciary Committee

Three cheers for Roberts Rules of Order nerds

Leahy now attacking the integrity of the documents, noting those that have been disclosed have been altered or redacted

Leahy says the National Archives should be allowed to finish the document disclosure job.

What are we trying to hide, Leahy asks

Grassley says he can answer those questions but to do so would help the minority obstruct the nomination so there you have it folks

Grassley now pivots to Fast and Furious under Obama

Next up: Benghazi

Grassley mumbling through claims of executive privilege and the 42K pages disclosed last night.

Grassley said we got the documents before the hearing just like we asked so what's the big deal, folks

Grassley now suggesting the committee has read the entire Kavanaugh record disclosed so far which is adorable and wrong ask any attorney who has sifted through a document dump before

Grassley again invoking the American people and their desire to hear from him.

Reminder Kavanaugh has the lowest approval rating of a SCOTUS nominee ever

Kavanaugh now speaking. Introducing his family and thanks the committee for arranging a day off of school for them.

Associate Justice Carpool Dad amirite

Senate Dems renew their motion to adjourn. Klobuchar asks when they will vote on it. Sen Coons joins in and appeals to Grassley's history of demanding the minority party be treated with fairness in this process

Watching Klobuchar press Grassley is good fun and also infuriating because she could do this all the time but doesn't

Sen. Blumenthal says specifically there is no valid claim of executive privilege asserted here. Booker joins in. Presses for a vote on the motion to adjourn.

Whitehouse says any federal court would grant the motion to adjourn and give folks more time given the document dump. He's right.

Durbin now notes that the Court went a year with eight justices and the "shabby" treatment by the GOP of Merrick Garland.

Cornyn now hints the Dems should be held in contempt for failing their advise and consent duties which is RICH

Grassley not budging on the hearing so far.

Booker says this isn't a delay tactic but an attempt for the Senators to do their constitutional duty of advise and consent

Booker reminds Grassley that Grassley himself asked for these documents but doesn't seem to care they haven't been disclosed.

What are Republicans hiding?

Grassley responds to Booker by saying that Kavanaugh's legal opinions are what matters

Dems chuckling at the idea that Republicans have gone through all the documents "that's a rate of 7000 documents an hour"

Blumenthal wants to respond to Cornyn but Grassley won't let him.

Feinstein starts in with her opening remarks

Feinstein invokes the "clouds of corruption and scandal" surrounding the Trump administration and pivots to asking "is he [Kavanaugh] in the legal mainstream"

Feinstein pivots to the Garland obstruction and also the fact that 96% of Kavanaugh documents have not been turned over to the American public

Feinstein says Trump has a list of judicial candidates that are "too hot for prime time" and Kavanaugh is on that list.

Feinstein hammering on the Garland nomination is going to make Kavanaugh invoking Garland in his remarks sound especially trollish

Feinstein invokes ENRON and so here is good time to remind folks that we are re-living through the worst of the Reagan and Bush years

Blumenthal immediately moves to adjourn and gets a second. Grassley won't let the committee vote to adjourn and go into executive session. Says motions are not proper at this time.

Klobuchar reminds Grassley it is a pending motion before the committee

Blumenthal presses for a vote, which is properly before the committee.

Grassley says the motion is out of order.

Booker responds with a motion to go into executive session.

Grassley still won't.

Blumenthal will not let go his motion to adjourn.

Grassley denies the motion.

Booker calls the motion "germane to our constitutional duties"

"What are we afraid of, to hold a vote on the motions before us?"

Kennedy now jumps in and asks what the ground rules for the hearing will be, which is interesting considering all the proper procedure being invoked by the Dems 🤷🏻‍♀️

Grassley insisting today's hearing is moving forward as planned by the GOP

Ooooh Grassley is mad.

Stay mad, Chuck

Hirono now jumps in with questions about ground rules too.

Is Grassley requiring the Dems to preclear exhibits they want to use? Because if so they're gonna need the damn documents.

Grassley's answer is "I don't know"

Klobuchar chimes in to ask if the Dems don't know what the rules are how can they proceed with the hearing?

Sen. Tillis now chimes in to say Dems are plotting to disrupt the hearing

Yes, Tillis. That's called being in the minority and opposition

Durbin jumps in to respond to this nonsense to say effectively "yes as we are coordinating our response to Republican obstruction"

Blumenthal now reading the committee rules to Grassley and re-opens his motion to adjourn.

The Chairman has no right to overrule these rules by fiat, Blumenthal states

Grassley says those rules apply to executive session [which is not what the committee is in right now]

Note Booker's motion to move to executive session was completely ignored by Grassley

Grassley insists the Kavanaugh documents have been turned over in a fast and transparent fashion.

Lol okay Chuck

Smattering of protesters interrupting Grassley's monologue on how transparent the Trump administration is

Grassley accuses Democrats of scaring the American people with suggestion that there's something hiding in Kavanaugh's documents

Leahy wants to respond to Grassley

"That was one heck of a paraphrase" Leahy says in response to Grassley's characterization of the Kagan documents and hearings

Leahy "I'm just sorry to see the Senate Judiciary Committee descend this way...."

We're an hour into the hearing and Dems are still holding tough pressing Grassley on the lack of oversight.

Leahy is heated.

Now Klobuchar joins in to rebut the GOP invoking the Sotomayor hearings, says she never worked in the White House like Kavanaugh.

Then holds up a small pile of papers she says are what was disclosed to her

By way of background I watched Klobuchar in a courtroom in my trial attorney days and this is classic AKlo litigation style

One thing to note is how important it is for lawyers to know the record before them. AKlo right now showing why that matters

Cornyn now rebutting calling Senate Democrats objections "mob rule"

"We have rules and traditions here"

Cornyn says no need to take the Democrats seriously because they've already made up their minds, says the hearing is for the American public

Blumenthal now responds with the precedent of Judiciary granting motions to postpone hearings in the past to respond to Cornyn's "mob rule" crack

Durbin now invokes Bill Burke as the Kavanaugh document gatekeeper. Want to know more about Burke? Listen to Boom! Lawyered because @AngryBlackLady and I talk all about him.

rewire.news/multimedia/pod…

Kennedy now asks for the floor and a count of the documents released and whether the committee is in executive session and whether the committee will get to hear from the nominee

Grassley asks Dems how long they plan to do this, says he's not entertaining their motions

Chuck Grassley just invoked Chuck Grassley in the third person

Grassley says the Staff Secretary documents for Kavanaugh are both highly sensitive and totally irrelevant so there you have it

Now Sen. Harris chimes in to note that only a smattering of Kavanaugh's documents have been requested.

Says this is a hearing about who will sit in a house that symbolizes our system of justice. Due process and transparency matter. It's why we have public courtrooms

Democrats renew their motions to adjourn, suspend, and go into executive session.

Grassley denies the motion.

Hirono jumps in to prevent Grassley from proceeding. Wants to correct the record on the role of White House Staff Secretary

Grassley says Kavanaugh will have a chance to answer questions about his role in the White House.

Booker jumps in now. Grassley asks if he's the last Dem. Booker won't speak for his colleagues.

Dems are gonna force Grassley to gavel them out of order

Booker says it is unprecedented that the committee has ceded its advise and consent role to a partisan lawyer [Burke]

Grassley now soberly offering opening remarks.

Kavanaugh's face is tight, his lips pursed. Imagine this is how your confirmation hearing was proceeding? Would you want the job? I mean he's a partisan hack so sure he does.

Grassley's remarks invoke good judges ruling based on "humility"

Protesters shouting over Grassley

Grassley's entire line of "good judges" remarks pivots into a quote from Andrew Jackson in case the Neo-confederacy part of today wasn't quite explicit enough

Grassley just invoked the "Ginsburg rule" in his opening remarks. Here's @irin to decode that for y'all

thecut.com/2018/08/brett-…

Grassley specifically invoking Roe v Wade and suggests its improper for Kavanaugh to offer his thoughts on precedent and abortion

That, friends, is called tipping your hand.

Grassley just de facto acknowledged Kavanaugh is the fifth vote to end Roe

And now Grassley invokes Bork and Clarence Thomas and says that by confirming Kavanaugh the Senate can atone for the Borking of Bork

This hearing is already exhausting

Grassley then suggests that the thousands of pages of Kavanaugh opinions are really all the documents anyone needs to proceed. 🤔

Grassley offers the rest of his remarks for the record and offers the floor to Feinstein to continue her opening remarks.

Feinstein says it is important that Kavanaugh knows why Dems feel so strongly, pivots to Roe v. Wade

It's now a question of settled law, but correct law

Feinstein talking about her experience sentencing women to jail for abortions pre-Roe.

Yup. That's right. Feinstein helped sentence [and parole] women for exercising reproductive autonomy

Feinstein also invokes the "privacy decisions" like Griswold v Connecticut which de-criminalized access to contraception [for married people, single folks later in Baird]

Yes birth control is at risk with Kavanaugh too

Feinstein invokes Kavanaugh's dissent in Garza v Hargan as proof he is willing to disregard precedent when convenient

Feinstein now listing all the other rights protected in the penumbra of privacy rights:

Who you can marry
If you can homeschool
What doctor you can see

Feinstein pivots to guns and notes that Kavanaugh is "much more than just pro gun"

Feinstein lists conservatives judges who think Kavanaugh is too extreme on guns. And there's a lot of them. He's even to the right of Scalia on the Second Amendment

Now Sen. Hatch is up. Calls the Kavanaugh hearings the most thorough confirmation process he's ever been a part of

Sure, Jan

"Judge Kavanaugh, it's good to see you" says Hatch after thanking Grassley for his handling of the Kavanaugh nomination.

Hatch reminds everyone that's he's known Kavanaugh for a long time so obvs he's a great candidate

Hatch now invoking Kavanaugh's reviews from students calls them "off the charts" notes Kavanaugh also coaches basketball, eats pasta with ketchup

This is what the GOP believes constitutional advise and consent looks like

Protesters shouting over Hatch and derail him for a minute. Says Democrats trying to paint Kavanaugh as one of the four horseman of the apocalypse

Hatch demanding a protester be removed, says he shouldn't have to.... hear from the American public apparently.

I hope she's not a law student Hatch says.

Or.... what?

Protesters are not relenting and shouting over Hatch. Getting louder. Hatch shouting now too and he's getting real mad.

This is Hatch's last confirmation hearing. Imagine this being your swan song

Hatch now highlights a letter from former Kavanaugh law clerks. All women.

Here's Dahilia Lithwick on what to do with that endorsement

slate.com/news-and-polit…

Reminder that Kavanaugh clerked for Judge Kozinski who resigned after his own #MeToo scandal.

Also reminder that Bill Burke who is controlling the Kavanaugh documents represents Kozinski in the abuse allegations against him

So the men protecting other abusive men say listen to them and the ladies they pick for clues on Kavanaugh and workplace harassment and abuse

Hatch calls the protesters "so out of line they shouldn't even be in the gosh darn room"

Sen. Ned Flanders y'all

Feinstein now recognizing members of the audience including the Urban League, the Leadership Conference, the NAACP

Wonder if these are the folks that Hatch doesn't think should be in the gosh darn room

Now Sen. Leahy is up.

"It might serve the committee to have some reality," Leahy says before preparing to read the Riot Act to the republicans

Leahy addresses Kavanaugh directly, says Trump nominated him to fulfill the promise to overturn Roe v. Wade

Then says maybe Trump also nominated you for your expansive view of executive authority.

Kavanaugh just blinks. Face remains tights

Leahy says there's so much wrong with the document process it's hard to know where to begin.

"In fact, you shouldn't be sitting here today" Leahy says

Leahy notes that the documents claimed as confidential deal with Kavanaugh's time at the Bush White House undoubtedly deal with abortion, same sex marriage, and torture

Leahy says there's no reason not to wait till the Archives documents are disclosed and let the Court operate with 8 justices.

After all, Republicans set the precedent for an 8 justice Court Leahy notes

Leahy talking about the history of the document fight and its ties to Watergate. @AngryBlackLady and I talk about that too! I think he listens to our podcast!

rewire.news/multimedia/pod…

The blanket invocation of executive privilege by Trump's team here reminds me of when the Bush White House went to Congress with a one page bill to give Treasury blank powers to bail out corporations

or when the Bush White House sent Alberto Gonzales to the hospital bedside of John Ashcroft for a reauthorization of surveillance powers that the DoJ had deemed unlawful

Leahy puts Kavanaugh on notice that he [Leahy] believes Kavanaugh misled the Judiciary Committee during his confirmation process to the D.C. Circuit and plans to ask him about it

I don't like the term gravitas but Leahy has it full stop here. Nobody can lecture him on process and he's here to make sure that point is clear

Leahy invokes his membership to the Supreme Court bar to punctuate his objection to the Kavanaugh proceedings

Now Sen. Cornyn is up. He's the one who said being a White House Staff Secretary is just being a paper pusher

Cornyn wants a justice who is "tethered to the text" of the Constitution

Cornyn now invoking Gorsuch invoking Scalia for the idea that judges don't make policy

Cornyn invoking the limited powers of the federal government as protesters shout over him

Cornyn now personally attesting to Kavanaugh's skills based on his 18 years of friendship with Kavanaugh

More protesters being escorted out of the committee room.

Kavanaugh helped Cornyn prep for a SCOTUS argument defending prayer in public school when Cornyn was Texas AG

Cornyn is very upset that Dems have their minds made up on Kavnaugh based solely on his judicial record

Cornyn tells folks to "get a grip" and just move on and confirm Kavanaugh

So these hearings are for the American people who also need to just get a grip and let Republicans ram this nomination through

Now Senator Durbin is up. Thanks Kavanaugh's family from weathering the hearings

"This is the noise of a free democracy" he says

Durbin: You are the nominee of Donald James Trump who has showed contempt for the rule of law

"It is that president who has decided you are his man"

Durbin just invited Trump to attack him on Twitter this is American politics in 2018 folks

Why do your supporters think you are such a sure bet to rule in their interests, Durbin asks Kavanaugh

Durbin now looks at Kavanaugh and quotes his prior testimony stating he wasn't involved in torture policy.

You should be held accountable for your own words, Durbin said

35 months of Kavanaugh's White House time have been completely blacked out for disclosure. What was happening during that time?

Same sex marriage
federal partial birth abortion ban
torture
unlimited detention power

Is this president, or any president, above the law Durbin asks Kavanaugh

Durbin invokes Marbury v Madison [power of courts to review congress/president] and says Kavanaugh's views of executive power flies in the face of that precedent

"Step up" Durbin tells Kavanaugh and have these proceedings suspended till the full record is disclosed

Now it's Sen. Lee who, as I note time and time again, has a grating staccato delivery that makes me tune him out

Lee is frequently mentioned as a SCOTUS contender and is now lecturing the room on civility

I'd like to take this class for pass/fail please

Only Lee could manage to take an otherwise exciting hearing and suck all the oxygen out of it

Does someone have Prof Lee's notes I could borrow?

Lee going through a history of controversial Supreme Court nominees and manages to make it dry af

Also, isn't it interesting how Republicans have just memory-holed Harriet Miers?

I would drop this class if Lee were my prof tbh

why are you so boring though, Sen Lee

Pretty sure Lee put the protesters to sleep

Ohh Lee just got elevated when he had to talk about women's rights and worker's rights

Lee might be wrapping up because he just made a plea to his colleagues

Yet he's still talking

Lee definitely practiced these remarks in the mirror this morning

Now Sen. Whitehouse

"When is pattern evidence of bias," he opens.

This is already more animated than Lee

Whitehouse now calling out the Roberts 5 and their partisan excursions

This is the GREAT set up for future bedtime stories, borrowing this for my kids

73 cases the Roberts Five have ruled in favor of Republican interests.

Those interests are 73 for 73 before the Roberts Court

Whitehouse now giving us a highlights reel

1. Win elections: gerrymandering
2. suppress minority votes
3. help big money further flood election
4. help keep corporate influencers out of court: class action limitations and mandatory arbitration

5. protect biz against age discrimination; pay discrimination
6. ruling against jury rights but for ruling for corporate rights
7. busting unions
8. ruling for polluters
9. Gonzales v Carhart and upholiding abortion bans
10 Hobby Lobby
11 lying to patients in NIFLA

My internet is getting throttled right now so keeping up is tough but man Whitehouse is doing the best job here positively flaying the Roberts Court

Corporate capture of the courts... this is Whitehouse at some of his finest

Whitehouse pre-empting Kavanaugh's invocation of Roberts as umpire with the 73 for 73 decisions for corporate interest

Whitehouse calls out Gorsuch and his union busting vote in Janus that overturned 40 years of SCOTUS precedent

Now Senator Ted Cruz is up. He's been friends with Kavanaugh for 20 years and that's supposed to be an endorsement of some kind

If only there was a protester in Beto cosplay to skateboard through the Judiciary Committee right now

Cruz says the Democrats are fighting so hard for the documents from the Bush White House because they know the Bush White House wouldn't turn them over 🤷🏻‍♀️

Cruz says this is not about Kavanaugh but re-litigating the Bush years and the 2016 election

Sorry I just had to talk a walk and stretch my neck after whiplashing from Whitehouse's litany of 5-4 Roberts Court decision and this 5-4 majority court under a president Hillary Clinton

Cruz invokes Little Sisters of the Poor and says Obama was forcing them to pay for abortion -inducing drugs for others.

Folks none of that is true.

For someone who just accused the Democrats of re-litigating the 2016 election Cruz is spending a lot of time talking about Hillary Clinton

Grassley calling for a 30 min break which is thank god because I have to pee

Okay so I should note that Jon Kyl getting appointed to John McCain's seat means Kyl will get to vote to confirm a judicial nominee [Kavanaugh] that he has been shepherding through since Kavanaugh's nomination

That's some quid-pro-quo right there

Also! As part of our Kavanaugh coverage @AngryBlackLady and I will have special episodes of Boom! Lawyered with hearing highlights so stay tuned!

And we're back!

Grassley opens the afternoon session by defending all the secrecy around the Kavanaugh documents

Klobuchar up now and responds directly to Grassley:

None of that changes that we got 42,00 pages dumped on us last night

Klobuchar opens by listing the missing pages

This isn't normal she says

Klobuchar invokes the special counsel investigation and criminal convictions of Trump loyalists

Klobuchar calls on her time as a former federal prosecutor and tells Kavanaugh she intends to start with a simple question: is the president above the law

Klobuchar directly addresses Kavanaugh's University of Minnesota law review article and Kavanaugh's expansive views of executive power

Klobuchar pivots to the Magna Carta and tyranny and then goes to the Affordable Care Act and pre-existing conditions. I give her a lot of grief [rightly!] but when she is on she is on

Klobuchar returns to the attacks on the rule of law under the Trump administration.

Tells her story of being a young girl wanting to go to law school. Notes much of the work of the law is not glamorous

Klobuchar now cites her self and an essay she wrote as a 17 year old about why she wanted to become a lawyer.

Will this justice apply the law equally for everyone, she asks.

Hey, AKlo. Show up like this all the time please

Sen Sasse now up and says he wants to "riff" with Klobuchar for a moment and says he takes his girls to "juvi" to scare them straight

Sasse's charm offensive is something, really

He says the American public are seeing through the panic from the left...

to the tune of being the least popular SCOTUS nominee

Sasse calls criticism "deranged comments" and quotes Lisa Blatt [corporate SCOTUS litigator and 'liberal feminist' by male pundit standards] for her support of Kavanaugh

Sasse now calls the criticism "hysteria"

Reminder hysteria is a gendered term that used to be a 'medical diagnosis' of the free-floating womb that made women 'crazy'

Sasse really has the 'sensible midwesterner' dialed in but honestly Chuck Hagel did it waaaay better

Sasse making the case for ending judiciary hearings entirely

Sasse calls protesters outside of the Supreme Court evidence of an unhealthy democracy.

Sasse giving a lecture on institutional power atm

Sasse invokes Schoolhouse Rock and the "alphabet soup" agencies

So here is Kavanaugh to help deliver the 5th vote to upend decades of precedent on agency power.

And Sasse says all of this framed on a 'non-political' judiciary

The Congress has decided to "self-neuter" and hand over its power to an unelected agency

One of the biggest issues before SCOTUS will be the power of executive agencies and the court's role in reviewing them. Seems relevant.

People turn to the Supreme Court looking for politics and "super legislators"

Sneers at "empathy" from justices

Sasse is actually just mean. You can see it now that's he's warmed up. His charm veneer is thin.

Sasse calls criticism of Kavanaugh "Onion-like smears"

"Power hungry executive bureaucrats" are exactly how I imagine civil servants who have worked in agencies for 20 years for middling pay

Sen Coons up now and says they're not here to consider Kavanaugh for the neighborhood association

Bless

Coons tells the story of Scalia's death and his request that Obama nominate someone both Republicans and Democrats could unite behind. And he did that, Coons said, in nominating Merrick Garland

Coons notes that in his one year on the Court Gorsuch has voted 5 times to overturn precedent so that's how much he respects precedent

Now pivots to the lack of documents and Republican obstruction around Kavanaugh's nomination. Calls it unprecedented lack of transparency

What might President Trump and the majority be trying to hide, Coons asks.

Appeals to Grassley to halt the hearings and the previous motions to suspend proceedings "We are better than this" Coons says

Coons is offering a sobering and non-condescending rebuttal to Sasse and his claims of "deranged" and "hysterical" Kavanaugh critics

Coons says outright the Judiciary Committee has to consider the possibility that Trump picked Kavanaugh to protect Trump

Coons re-ups Durbin's request to Kavanaugh to voluntarily suspend the hearings until his full record is released

Coons now quotes McCain and the fact that we "live under the rule of law" to Kavanaugh

Coons closes by thanking Kavanaugh for his time.

Grassley comes in to "rehabilitate the witness" in Kavanaugh and rebut the idea that Kavanaugh is outside the judicial mainstream

Grassley now trying to rebut the Democrats take on the Kavanaugh documents, executive privilege, and withheld documents

Sen. Flake up now. Like Sasse he's going to start with some charm and clearheadedness but it'll fade.

Starts with the documents. Says really we need to start with Kavanaugh's time on the D.C. Circuit.

Flake says the documents [that Republicans are refusing to turn over] are largely irrelevant and not probative of Kavanaugh's views of anything.

Okay fine so then turn them over 🤷🏻‍♀️

Flake congratulates Kavnaugh for completing the Boston Marathon twice

Flake reminds everyone that Kavanaugh coaches youth basketball and enters into the record a letter of recommendation from parents of the youth teams

Flake says Kavanaugh's experience coaching youth basketball is evidence he has the right temperament for a lifetime appointment to the Supreme Court

Flake now pivoting to the special counsel investigation and Trump's pressure on Sessions. Says this with gravitas [and will later vote to confirm Kavanaugh anyways]

Sen Blumenthal up now. Thanks Grassley for patiently conducting the hearings. It's also clear he's heated

Blumenthal thanks the Americans paying attention to the Kavanaugh nomination, calls that commitment "what sustains democracy"

Blumenthal gives a shout out to the protesters wearing the "I am what is at stake" t-shirts

Blumenthal says that what is at stake is "the rule of law" with the vote on Kavanaugh

Blumenthal now urges the Department of Justice to hold fast against Trump and his attacks on the special counsel investigation

Blumenthal says at the end of the day our heroes will be an independent judiciary and our free press and that was really nice to hear, frankly

Blumenthal now laying out all the possible legal issues surrounding Trump as an unindicted co-conspirator.

There are a lot

Blumenthal notes Kavanaugh would be the deciding vote around these legal issues. It's why these hearings matter, he says

Blumenthal explaining how those documents that have been disclosed are uploaded and says it is impossible that Grassley's team reviewed them all.

He just called the Chairman a liar

Blumenthal now renews his motion to adjourn so the full record, including his FOIA request that is outstanding.

Blumenthal reads the rule. Wants a vote. With all due respect you are required to entertain my motion, Blumenthal says

By law these documents belong to the American people, Blumenthal states.

It's only a matter of time before you'll have to answer for what is in them.

Motion renewed. Grassley says this isn't an executive business session so denies the motion

Blumenthal asks for a cite to where in the rules they apply only to executive business sessions. Grassley can't.

Blumenthal moves to appeal Grassley's denial and asks for a roll call vote. Grassley says again the rules don't apply here.

Blumenthal says he's proceeding under protest.

Protests start shouting again. Blumenthal says he has fears about the Kavanaugh nomination

Kennedy now interrupts Blumenthal confused on procedure again

Grassley says we have to stay here and get this done and won't cut anyone off

Note Blumenthal still has time

Blumenthal says he'll be "judicious" with the use of his time and I bet that felt a little bit good

Blumenthal says Kavanaugh has spent decades showing the Federalist Society and Heritage Foundation what he believes.

"They are the ones who really nominated you," Blumenthal says

Blumenthal joins the calls to Kavanaugh to have him suspend the hearings. Says they have been a disservice to Kavanaugh.

"There will always be an asterisk next to your name," Blumenthal says

Blumenthal says both he and Kavanaugh share a deep respect for the Supreme Court. Says the power of the Court depends on its credibility. Again asks Kavanaugh to suspend the hearings till his record is produced

Sen Kennedy up now which I'm sure will confuse him

More protesters shout at the committee and Kennedy looks around, befuddled

Kennedy says he's not looking for a hater

Kennedy also wants a Supreme Court justice who knows what a semi-colon is for

I am not making this up go ahead and fact check me

I'm sorry I'm still laughing I'll brb

If you had told me that covering the Kavanaugh hearing would lead me to earworming Mary J Blige because of Sen. John Kennedy I would

Well at this point I actually would believe it

Kennedy now invoking Dred Scott and I don't think it's going to work out the way he intends

Y'all I still can't believe Kennedy says he doesn't want a "hater" on SCOTUS

Sen. Hirono up now 💥💥💥

Hirono starts by explaining the role of the White House Staff Secretary which includes summarizing policy memos and legal arguments

Hirono now pivots to the Trump administration's attack on the rule of law, says the federal courts have given her hope and rattles off the decisions against Trump

Hirono says the Senate is being asked to rubber stamp a hand-picked Trump nominee. Says Kavanaugh is about Trump shoring up his conservative base.

Hirono explicitly says Kavanaugh was picked by Trump to protect himself against the special counsel

Hirono pivots to the parade of horribles that are other Trump judicial nominees and places Kavanaugh's nomination in the larger picture of the conservative take over of the federal courts

Hirono says Kavanaugh was also chosen because of his fidelity to conservative partisan politics

Hirono says the Kavanaugh nomination is "a battle worth fighting" regardless of the outcome

Hirono now invokes Gorsuch and his claims to respect precedent and notes he ignored it when he voted against public sector unions in Janus

Hirono asks Kavanaugh "don't you think you owe it" to the American public to disclose your record, "if you stand behind it"

Renews calls on Kavanaugh to suspend the hearings

Now Sen. Crapo's term. That's CRAY-PO not how you think it should be pronounced

Crapo rushing to Grassley's defense calls claims of alack of transparency "wholly without substance"

Crapo says Democrats are trying to use any means necessary to delay the Kavanaugh nomination and somewhere Merrick Garland just waived

Crapo just slipped and mentioned Kavanaugh being "put into office"

Also just said "Democrat presidents"

It's going to be a long week

Crapo running a close second to Lee in being a judiciary committee charisma suck

Sen Booker up next. Welcomes Kavanaugh and his family.

Turns to Grassley and clarifies he hasn't questioned Grassley's integrity but has instead just appealed to it.

Grassley says its okay we're still friends

Booker then says all that, I still fundamentally disagree on how the proceedings are being conducted

Booker sounds like he's pleading with Republicans which I mean I suppose he is but begging won't get anywhere

Appealing to comity went out with the Garland nomination

Booker says waiting for the docs means a more robust hearing and wouldn't hire an intern knowing only 10% of their resume

Booker says he's summoning the spirit of McCain to be as objective as possible

Booker notes that Kavanaugh showed up on Trump's SCOTUS list after the special counsel investigation started to heat up

Booker says Kavanaugh's nomination and the hearing will shake the faith of the American people in the integrity of the Supreme Court

Booker mentions the *ongoing* litigation challenging the ACA happening in Texas. Oral arguments are scheduled for 9/10 in that case. Republican governors claim tax reform killed Obamacare

Booker now talking about the corporate consolidation in American farming and this child of Nebraska says did you even '80s, man?

Grassley now interrupts Booker and tells him to move it along, basically

I'm sure it wasn't to knock Booker off his pace recounting the flaws of the founding fathers

Now Sen Tillis is up, compliments Kavanaugh on his mother's composure during the hearing so far

Tillis now applauding the work of Senate Republicans in how they've handled the Kavanaugh nomination

Says Democrats only need a couple of hours to go through 42,000 pages of documents thanks to technology

Tillis is now off script so this might be fun

Nope I was wrong. Nothing about this is fun

Tillis is *I think* saying that Senators should ask Kavanaugh about his legal theory which of course they don't need any documents to do

Tillis says Democrats are just trying to prove they are the smartest folks in the room.

I mean. Okay.

These hearings will never end will they

Tillis congratulates Kavanaugh on his composure so far during the hearings.

Note Kavanaugh is not able to comment or answer directly yet because these are opening statements. So basically Tillis said good job for not flipping a table or something

Sen. Harris now up. Resubmits her motion to suspend the hearings.

Harris starts in on the politicization of SCOTUS and notes there have been "many campaigns" run on nominating justices to the court

Harris says she'd think anyone nominated to the Supreme Court would want to have a hearing that is characterized by transparency and fairness and integrity

We should not be moving forward with this hearing, Harris says.

The American people deserve better.

Harris sharing her story of being a bussed student to desegregate Berkeley schools

Harris cites Brown v Board of Education as making her career possible and says that for her the Supreme Court seat is personal

Harris now bringing up Cohen's guilty plea and statements under oath that he [Cohen] was directed by Trump to break the law and ties it to the rush around the Kavanaugh nomination

Harris says what guides Kavanaugh is partisanship

That's what we know about Kavanaugh she says, staring with his work on Bush v Gore

Harris has all the Kavanaugh receipts and is doing a very good job reading through them

Are we prepared to participate in process that is tainted, asks Harris

I mean here we are

Senator Graham is the last senator to offer opening remarks.

Graham jokes about Grassley taking him to dinner

After Graham we'll get to hear from Kavanaugh and a few folks to say nice words about him. Like Condi Rice who also enthusiastically endorsed the Iraq War

Graham now talking about Hillary Clinton

Lots of chuckles from the crowd on whether or not Kavanaugh will uphold Roe v Wade

Pivots to executive power.

"This idea that Trump picked you to save him. Amazing concept," Graham said

Graham now calls Joe Biden the gift that keeps on giving for Republicans and I gotta say he's right there

Graham now wants to talk about guns.

Calls Sen Feinstein "a wonderful lady"

Graham pivots to Comey and whether or not the president should fire Mueller [presumably]

Graham says he's going to do everything he can to keep Mueller from getting fired.

Lol thanks. I feel *much* better about things now.

Graham now suggests his flailing political career is due to the fact that he voted to confirm Justices Sotomayor and Kagan

Graham says the antidote to politics in the judiciary is not to deny Kavanaugh a seat on the Court 🙃

And we're back. Here's Condi Rice to introduce Kavanaugh

Rice and Kavanaugh have been friends for over 17 years

Calls Kavanaugh a strong and caring colleague

Rice says she remembers the birth of his kids

Rice says she knows first hand that Kavanaugh is really really smart

Rice that our institutions should give us reason for optimism

Rice again personally attests to Kavanaugh's integrity.

She also personally attested to the reasons for lying our way into the Iraq War so make of that what you will

Sen. Rob Portman now up to also personally vouch for Kavanaugh

This trend of Senators invoking the "good judgment" of a nominee based on who they decided to marry is so gross

Lisa Blatt is up now to talk about her role as a SCOTUS litigator and how Kavanaugh will be great for her clients.

Blatt says she wishes Feinstein were chair of the proceedings as though that is going to absolve her of the consequences of her helping elevate Kavanaugh to the bench

Blatt is doing herself no favors by talking about RBG right now

Now we'll hear from Brett Kavanaugh

I wonder if Kavanaugh is going to talk about his carpool experience

Kavanaugh calls the folks who introduced him patriots

Kavanaugh now invokes Justice Kennedy and his legacy of "liberty"

That legacy was super apparent in his opinion in Masterpiece Cakeshop amirite

Also Kennedy's 'liberty' legacy is super apparent in his abortion-rights decisions where he decides the liberty of pregnant patients should be pushed aside for the power of the state

Kavanaugh says his judicial philosophy is one of independence

A good judge must be an umpire says Kavanaugh, cribbing from John Roberts but seriously can we kill this metaphor for good

Here's Kavanaugh invoking his coaching experience and how much he loves helping the girls on his team transform into confident athletes

He just doesn't think those players deserve a fair shake in the courts 🤷🏻‍♀️

Kavanaugh reports that his daughter Margaret just turned 13 and got her braces off

Did you know Kavanaugh's wife is a strong west Texan? Because she is. And marrying her shows just how good Kavanaugh's judgment is

Kavanaugh says he's optimistic of the future of America and the future of an independent judiciary.

I mean if I was a rich white guy I'd feel pretty good too!

okay quick break to talk on the radio brb

Talked on the radio, recorded a podcast and now writing and filing a piece to go up in a hot minute.

Longest Monday ever