Feinstein: Republicans Rushing Supreme Court Hearing to Avoid Transparency

Washington—Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) today released the following statement on the Senate Judiciary Committee scheduling confirmation hearings for Brett Kavanaugh in early September, almost two months before his White House records will be available:

“It’s clear that Republicans want to speed this nomination through before we know who Brett Kavanaugh is. This is not how the Senate should approve a nominee for a lifetime appointment to the highest court in the land.

“Scheduling a hearing in early September, while more than 99 percent of Kavanaugh’s White House records are still unavailable, is not only unprecedented but a new low in Republican efforts to stack the courts.

“It’s a sad state of affairs that for the first time, Chairman Grassley has decided to go it alone and take a partisan approach, producing the most minimal amount of documents for the public.

“The few documents that have been provided didn’t come from the Bush Library, but instead were cherry-picked by President Bush’s lawyer who was Kavanaugh’s deputy at the White House. And none of those documents are from the years he served as staff secretary.

“Bipartisan norms for Supreme Court nominees have been developed over the years and transparency has ruled the process for a reason. The committee shouldn’t hold a hearing before we’ve had a chance to review his entire record.”

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