Grassley Doubles Down on Cover-up of Kavanaugh’s Record

WASHINGTON, D.C., July 27, 2018 – Today, Senate Judiciary Chairman Grassley announced his unilateral decision to request for review only a portion of the records pertaining to Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh’s tenure in the George W. Bush White House. Such a unilateral request, made without agreement by the Ranking Member and over the objections of Senators calling for all records to be released, is highly unusual. In addition, the request excludes records from Kavanaugh’s employment as Staff Secretary to President Bush, which he himself has called formative period in his career and one that informs his work as a judge. AFJ President Nan Aron released the following statement:

“It couldn’t be more obvious that Republicans are very worried about something in Kavanaugh’s record at the White House, and today Chairman Grassley doubled down on the cover-up. The only question is what they’re hiding, because Kavanaugh was at George W. Bush’s side during some of the most controversial actions the administration took. Those include the faulty pretext for going to war in Iraq, decisions to authorize torture, the treatment of detainees, the warrantless wiretapping scheme, and more. And it’s still an open question whether Kavanaugh misled Senators at his confirmation hearing to become a circuit court judge, when he denied working on these issues — only to have it come out in media reports that he took part in White House deliberations over detainee treatment. The American people have a right to know what a person up for a lifetime Supreme Court position has done in his career, and Republicans need to stop trying to hide it.”