Sen. Patrick Leahy says the U.S. Senate needs to review the full paper trail involving Judge Brett Kavanaugh, President Trump’s Supreme Court nominee.
Kavanaugh worked in the White House under President George W. Bush during debates over warrantless wiretapping and torture.
“I want to know what he was involved in," Leahy said. “The last time he testified before the Senate, when he was up for the court of appeals, I asked him about his knowledge of many of the scandals in the Bush administration. He said all he knew about them is what he read in the papers. But now there’s a lot to believe that’s false.”
Leahy wrote an op-ed piece for The New York Times earlier this week saying the Senate needs to review about one million pages of records relating to Kavanaugh.
“Every document of public interest should be made public,” he wrote in the piece. “No artificial restrictions. No abuse of executive privilege.”
Of particular interest to Leahy is Kavanaugh’s tenure in the White House where he served as staff secretary to Bush.
“Was he involved in the development of torture, let’s find out,” Leahy said in an interview. “Was he involved in saying a president is above the law? I think it’s extremely important to know.”
Leahy said when he was chairman of the Judiciary Committee, he supported the full release of documents related to President Obama’s nominee, Justice Elena Kagan.
He said he worked with then-Sen. Jeff Sessions to request the Kagan records. Sessions is now attorney general.
“We’re saying the same thing now. And you can’t take a different position when it’s a Republican nominee.,” Leahy said.
But so far, Leahy said the current Judiciary Committee chairman – Iowa Republican Charles Grassley – has opposed the request for the full document review.
