In my opening statement at Judge Kavanaugh’s hearing, I predicted that he wouldn’t tell the Judiciary Committee much. I was right. He refused to discuss his views on many critical issues facing our country in this perilous moment.
Instead, Judge Kavanaugh wants us to trust his word that he would be an independent justice who would approach cases with an open mind and no agenda. As President Reagan used to say, trust but verify.
However, an unprecedented amount of Judge Kavanaugh’s record is being concealed & he refused to delay his hearing in the name of transparency so his full White House record could be released. The Senate is being denied information that we need to evaluate his views & credibility.
There is a cloud over this nomination given the lack of transparency around Judge Kavanaugh’s public-service record. But we did learn at least a few things from Judge Kavanaugh this week.
I asked Judge Kavanaugh about dissents he wrote on women’s rights, labor rights, and gun safety laws. His writings and his answers were troubling. He has shown he will go out of his way to ignore clear precedent in order to seek outcomes that fit his ideology.
Then, on two separate occasions, Judge Kavanaugh denied misleading the Committee in 2006 when he told me under oath, “I was not involved and am not involved in the questions about the rules governing detention of combatants” while at the Bush White House.
I showed Judge Kavanaugh his 2006 testimony, where he unambiguously said he had no involvement in these questions. But we now know, from the limited records we have, that he was involved in at least 3 ways. His claim that he told the “whole truth” in 2006 is simply not credible.
Finally, Judge Kavanaugh has been chosen by a President who shows contempt for the rule of law. And Kavanaugh has said that Presidents can ignore certain laws and that sitting presidents should not face criminal investigations. Never has a SCOTUS nomination had so much at stake.
