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12 Years Later, Feinstein Still Wants Documents From Kavanaugh's Executive Branch Time, Despite Judicial Record

July 29, 2018

Sen. Diane Feinstein (D., Calif.) still wants the documents from Brett Kavanaugh's time working in the executive branch, despite having a judicial record that is over a decade long.

President Donald Trump nominated Kavanaugh to replace Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy. Kavanaugh, 53, clerked for Justice Kennedy and graduated from Yale Law School. He worked for former President George W. Bush before Bush nominated him to be a federal judge on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals.

During his 2006 confirmation hearing, Feinstein noted Kavanaugh's youth and said it was a detriment.

"First of all, you're very young, which is, I think, a blessing for  you. But in terms of an appellate judge, I think it is a detriment. Obviously, you've had a good education, you have done well. You have spent a lot of your life in at least a semi-political capacity. The question comes up, how can you assure us that you will be fair? Would you recuse yourself from any judgment that concerned this administration?" Feinstein asked.

She added that without a more extensive record it would be difficult to know what kind of judge Kavanaugh would be.

"Without a record either as a trial lawyer or as a judge, it's very difficult for some of us to know what kind of a judge you would be and whether you can move away from the partisanship into that arena of objectivity and fairness," Feinstein said.

Now, with over a decade of judicial rulings and over 300 opinion writings, Feinstein ignores Kavanaugh's record as a judge and has instead focused back on his earlier time in the executive branch.

"We the Senate and the American public must know where Judge Kavanaugh stands on these and other important issues before confirming him to a lifetime appointment," Feinstein said this year about Kavanaugh's nomination to the Supreme Court. "And this starts with having access to JudgeKavanaugh's documents from his time in the White House and as a political operative."