Feinstein: Delay Kavanaugh Hearing

Washington—Senate Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) today released the following statement calling for delay of Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination hearing:

“Yesterday, President Trump’s former personal lawyer said, under oath, that the president directed hush money payments to women the president had affairs with. If true, the president committed a felony. This is in addition to guilty verdicts for his campaign manager and widespread scandal surrounding many of his top advisors and Cabinet.

“In light of these developments, Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination hearing shouldn’t move forward on September 4. The Senate has a lot more work to do in order to fulfill our constitutional responsibility to fully vet a lifetime appointment to the Supreme Court.

“Currently, 98 percent of his White House record is being withheld from the public and more than 85 percent is being withheld from the Senate. The Judiciary Committee is also waiting for more than half of the pre-screened documents Bill Burck is providing to meet Republicans’ wholly inadequate request, which covers just 15 percent of his record. That’s saying nothing of the fact that we’ve received no documents at all from the nonpartisan National Archives from this time.

“The possibility of criminal wrongdoing by the president, combined with existing doubts that Brett Kavanaugh believes a president can even be investigated, demand further review of this situation. Brett Kavanaugh’s hearing should be delayed.”

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