At start of hearing, Democrats call for confirmation to be moved
Democrats including Sens. Kamala Harris, Amy Klobuchar and Richard Blumenthal interrupted Chairman Chuck Grassley’s opening statements, calling for the hearing to be moved due to Democrats’ argument that they have not been given adequate time or access to documents to review Kavanaugh’s fitness for the bench.
“We have not been given the opportunity to have a meaningful hearing on the nominee,” said Harris. Blumenthal argued that the lack of access to documents “turns this hearing into a charade and mockery of our norms.”
Democrat Corey Booker meanwhile called for debate on the issue, asking Grassley “what is the rush” on Kavanaugh’s confirmation. “What are we hiding by not letting those documents come out” to the public Booker inquired. Sen. Durbin echoed, urging the Senate to take a “few days or weeks” to have a complete review of Judge Kavanaugh’s record, adding that not doing so is “unfair to the American people.”
As of late Monday, the Senate had been given an additional 42,000 pages of documents about Kavanaugh, according to Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-New York.
The White House said Friday that it would not be releasing 100,000 Kavanaugh’s records from the Bush White House on the basis of presidential privilege.
Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vermont, said it was the first time in his 44 years in Congress that there has been such a claim of executive privilege, saying it “just puts everything under doubt. What are we trying to hide, we are we rushing?”
As Democrats made their case, protesters seated inside the chamber began shouting to stop the hearing making for a chaotic first few moments of Kavanaugh’s appearance before the Senate.
