A fiery opening to the confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. Several Democrats interrupted Senator Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) arguing that they still haven’t received or been able to review all the documents needed to fully vet Kavanaugh. Several Senators requested more time to review some 42,000 pages that were just released late Monday night. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) said:
“The question was why would we want to delay this and this is not an attempt to delay. This is an attempt to be fully equipped to do our constitutional duty which everybody, Republicans, and Democrats on this committee take seriously. Very hard to perform our role of advise and consent when we do not have a thorough vetting of the background of the candidate.”
Hours before hearing on whether Kavanaugh should have a lifetime seat on #SCOTUS, 42,000 new documents related to his record were dropped on the committee. This whole process has been tainted with unprecedented obstructionism since the start. https://t.co/SZOf8qJB3h
— Sen. Cory Booker (@SenBooker) September 4, 2018
Cory Booker, a junior senator on the committee, says he and his colleagues cannot provide "advice and consent" under the Constitution on Kavanaugh without all the documents.
He basically lays it at the feet of Grassley, a committee veteran, who should know better. Incredible.
— Cristian Farias (@cristianafarias) September 4, 2018
Also, at the outset, we're already seeing some procedural outrage — Sens. Booker and Harris are leading the way on that. These hearings seem to be as much about mid-terms as anything else.https://t.co/gVpwml3m27
— Emma Green (@emmaogreen) September 4, 2018
Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) also used her opening statement to make the case for why the hearing should be postponed.
Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) repeatedly asked that the committee vote on adjourning the hearing saying, “This process will be tainted and stained forever.”
Watch a live feed of the hearings above.
