Washington—Senate Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) today released the following statement on the need for Senate to review the complete record of Brett Kavanaugh:

“Brett Kavanaugh has been nominated to a lifetime appointment to the highest court in the land, and it’s critical that the American people fully understand his record. To properly vet Judge Kavanaugh, the Senate Judiciary Committee needs access to all documents from his time at the White House and as a political operative.

“When he was nominated to a lifetime appointment on the D.C. Circuit in 2003, and again in 2006, Democrats sought information from him to understand his role in warrantless wiretapping and the CIA torture and detention program, as well as his views on executive power. Republicans argued at the time that there was nothing to see, but that turned out to be wrong. It appears they’re making the same specious arguments now to claim that we don’t need to see documents about his record in the Bush White House.

“Kavanaugh has an extensive record. We expect at least 1 million pages of documents from his tenure in the White House and as a political operative. In addition, since 2003, the press has reported that Kavanaugh may have misled Congress about his role in these policies during the Bush era.

“President Trump this week raised bipartisan alarm about his relationship with Russia and whether he believes his intelligence agencies, reiterating the importance of protecting the investigation into Russian interference. Given what we know about Kavanaugh’s views of expansive executive power and that he doesn’t believe a sitting president should be investigated, it’s more important than ever that we have access to all documents in order to fully vet his nomination.

“The Senate and the public need to know who we’re considering to be nominated to the Supreme Court for a lifetime appointment. Documents from the Bush Library and National Archives could help shed light on these issues.”

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