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The candidate was a 41-year-old White House staff member with a baby face. His main protagonist, just after his second term in the Senate, got special privileges to ask questions of the Democrats. And sitting behind the senator was his low profile chief advocate known for putting his boss with sharp questioning.
It was in May 2006, and Brett M. Kavanaugh faced Senator Charles E. Schumer (DN.Y.), the future leader of the minority, whose lawyer, Preet Bharara, was at three years of his own confirmation as US Attorney in Manhattan.
Two weeks later, the Senate confirmed Kavanaugh at the DC Circuit Court of Appeals with only four Democrats. supporting him, ending one of the most controversial nomination fights waged by the George W. Bush White House.
It took three years, a bipartisan "gang" agreement and a very unusual second hearing before the Judiciary Committee. Today, 12 years later, Kavanaugh and the Democrats are preparing for a much bigger confrontation: his hearings before the Supreme Court this summer. Both parties are looking for clues as to how the federal judge dealt with certain issues – and what questions he simply dodged.
"Well, he would not answer the questions," Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.), Ranking member in 2006 who is now a senior member of the Judiciary Committee, recalled last week, still annoyed by the result. "It will be a little different this time."
Republicans agree that it will be different. Democrats have tried to portray Kavanaugh as an inexperienced political hack, who served as a junior member of the Independent Counsel's investigation of President Clinton in the 1990s and as an assistant to President Bush in the early 2000s. Republicans are waiting to steer Kavanaugh's new 12-year debate on the DC Circuit, predicting a largely partisan vote that will result in confirmation.
The next Supreme Court candidate will receive a lot of drama – but not in the Senate
From 2006 to now, what kind of judge was he? It was what I thought it would be, "said Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-C), a member of the Judiciary Committee, laughing at how Democrats view the conservative jurist. "I bet you it was what they thought it would be."
Democrats attempt to focus their opposition on Kavanaugh's potential to turn the court to the right as he will fill the seat of a key swing vote, the retreat of Judge Anthony M. Kennedy, particularly on the rights to abortion and the Affordable Care Act. But they are already issuing e-mail and paperwork requests that Kavanaugh handled when he was working for George W. Bush, which could represent hundreds of thousands of pages or more in total number of documents
They argue that it was the norm for Judge Elena Kagan when it was confirmed in 2010, when the committee reviewed documents from his term as Solicitor General of President Obama. "Now they have to do the same thing for Kavanaugh," Leahy said, "and he was there during Guantanamo, torture and a lot of other things."
Sen. John Cornyn (R-Tex.), Who introduced Kavanaugh during his first appearance in April 2004, asked his staff to review the confirmation of the last decade to determine what type of document production is needed now.
"I think that Schumer, as a minority leader, does not sit on committees and will not attend hearings as he did last time, but he is trying to mount an aggressive fight now because the stakes are higher.
In previous hearings, Schumer replaced Leahy as the Supreme Democrat, forgiving in advance to Kavanaugh's family for what they were going to watch. " something tells me that it will not be the easiest or most enjoyable audience, "he said in 2004.
The confirmation of the 2004 election campaign was interrupted – a presidential election. In the spring of 2005, Democrats were systematically filibustering a group of judges and Kavanaugh was among those who would have been stranded.
Finally, a bipartisan group of senators reached an agreement allowing a group of candidates to Bush to be confirmed. filibuster in "extraordinary circumstances".
Kavanaugh was not specifically mentioned but the Republicans believed his appointment was not "extraordinary" and convinced enough Democrats to respect this agreement for the future Supreme Court nominee. The gang of 14 ", said Graham, a member of the group.
The appointment of Neil M. Gorsuch to the Supreme Court is on track to change the Senate – and further divide the country
But Kavanaugh had to First go through Schumer More time in a second hearing more than two years after the first.
"You were involved in the dismissal of President Clinton," said Schumer at the May 2006 hearing "How would you have voted if you were a senator?"
Kavanaugh refused to answer, saying it was inappropriate for an investigator or prosecutor to weigh the verdict of a jury – in this case the House indictment vote in 1998 and the acquittal of the Senate Bill Clinton
The then-New York Democrat of Schumer, then Senator Hillary Clinton, was beginning to prepare for a 2008 presidential election and some Republicans considered the work of taurea u of Schumer as a Clinton favor.
Kavanaugh also refused to answer if Karl Rove, Bush's political adviser, had helped the candidates. And when Schumer pressed his personal opinions on the abortion law, he denied it.
"I do not think it would be appropriate for me to give a personal opinion," Kavanaugh finally answered, confirming the Supreme Court's precedent. in Roe c. Wade .
After Kavanaugh refused to discuss his views of any current justice of the Supreme Court, Schumer gave up.
"I do not think you clarified any of those answers." Two weeks later, the day before Kavanaugh's vote, Schumer went to the Senate just after a young senator from Illinois, Barack Obama, ended a speech against a CIA leadership candidate.With Bharara's presence behind him, Schumer accused Kavanaugh of being "reimbursed for services rendered to the political operation of the White House" But the "Gang of 14" case had put a damper on the judicial obstructionists Block Kavanaug h, who had enough votes to win
"I wish we could because America will regret , I believe, to have Mr. Kavanaugh on the ground for decades to come, "said Schumer.
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