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The presidential campaign of 2020 was marked by the confirmation hearings of Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh this week. Two potential Democratic candidates have made extraordinary efforts to demonstrate their opposition to President Trump's Supreme Court candidate.
Senator Cory Booker (N.J.) came forward Thursday as a rebel ready to be kicked out of the Senate for publishing Kavanaugh's confidential documents, describing it as the moment when I am Spartacus. In fact, the documents had already been validated for publication.
Senator Kamala D. Harris (California) suggested that she might have hard evidence that Kavanaugh had spoken of the special council's investigation of someone at the law firm founded by the personal lawyer of Trump. But she did not offer such details when she is in a hurry.
Booker and Harris, two of the most prominent African Americans in the Democratic Party, made headlines for their opposition to Trump and Kavanaugh for the country.
The brawl between the two men broke out in the midst of a clamor launched by a liberal base demanding resistance to Trump's agenda and nominees at all costs and in the spotlight of the national spotlight. At the same time, the brawl has divided Democrats, frustrating moderates in the face of tough reelection offers in Trump's hand-won states.
"It's not who I am," said Senator Joe Manchin III (DW.Va.), who observed the interrogation of Democrats and Republicans at the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing and said that he was ready to vote for Kavanaugh.
The presidential ambitions of several Senate Democrats could cost the party in mid-term elections in November, with 10 Democrats fighting for re-election in the states won by Trump.
Republicans seized Booker's shares, Sen. John Cornyn (Tex.) Accusing him of being "martyred in the service of his presidential campaign" and the GOP mocking him as "Spartacus of Newark" . statement that Kavanaugh's supporters are "complicit" in "evil".
Despite the actions of Booker, Harris and dozens of protesters who have repeatedly disrupted the hearings, the democratic hopes of defeating Kavanaugh have completely disappeared. The activists have so far failed to convince centrist senators to oppose it and have encountered difficulties throughout the country to motivate people to put pressure on them.
As a result, Kavanaugh is in a good position to be confirmed later this month, with Republicans holding a 51-49 advantage. In fact, while the Democratic Committee was challenging Kavanaugh, the Senate confirmed Thursday eight district judges, giving Trump 41 since he took office, as well as 26 appellate judges and Supreme Court Justice Neil Mr. Gorsuch.
[With little fanfare, Trump and McConnell reshape the nation’s circuit courts]
Senator Cory Booker (DN.J.), on the left, and Senator Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) Confer as Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh names before the Judiciary Committee of the Senate on the third day of his hearing of confirmation. (J. Scott Applewhite / AP)
But for Booker and Harris, the fight for 2020 is just beginning. Both are experiencing their first Supreme Court appointments as members of the Judiciary Committee.
"Clearly, if I've already been threatened with deportation, I'm ready to go in any way," Booker told the press on Thursday, bringing Republican hostility as a trademark. ;honor.
The fireworks that broke out on Wednesday night when Booker and Harris had Kavanaugh grill for the first time lit up the cavernous courtroom again when the Judiciary Committee resumed Thursday morning.
Booker lashed out at the panel's procedure of keeping many of Kavanaugh's documents private as a "pretense" with little merit and said he was free, despite the disastrous consequences he might have to do. "Bring it!" He said.
Cornyn, the second Republican senator and panel member of the judiciary, accused Booker at the hearing of prioritizing his national ambitions. "Running for the president is not an excuse to violate the rules of the Senate or the confidentiality of documents to which we have access," he said.
But the records that Booker posted on his site Thursday morning according to Democratic and Republican assistants of the commission, they had already been allowed to be published.
Pressed by reporters to find out if the documents he mentioned Thursday morning were approved for release, Booker said Wednesday he read the "confidential documents of the committee in violation of the rule." so during the day.
The Senate Majority Leader, Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Said Friday during an interview with radio host Hugh Hewitt that Booker could be the object of the meeting. a close examination by the Senate Ethics Committee.
On Wednesday, Booker cited an email that Kavanaugh had written about the issue of race and urged him to clarify his position on the government's efforts to promote diversity. Sitting next to Harris on the platform, Booker frequently spoke during his exchange with Kavanaugh, often obscuring the judge's comments with his own. At one point, Booker mentioned the right to vote in South Carolina, a crucial primary state.
"This appointment to Kavanaugh is of paramount importance," said Scott Brennan, a member of the Democratic National Committee of Iowa. "Those who do the job well can increase their credibility."
Harris' tense exchange on Wednesday night with Kavanaugh focused on Special Adviser Robert S. Mueller III's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and possible links to the Trump campaign. A C-SPAN video aired Wednesday night was seen nearly 4.8 million times Thursday afternoon.
Harris has repeatedly asked Kavanaugh whether he talked about Mueller or his investigation with anyone in the law firm founded by Trump's personal attorney, Marc Kasowitz.
Kavanaugh said he did not remember it and was not sure he knew everyone who worked at the law firm. On Thursday, Harris asked her again, saying this time that she had received "reliable information" that he had had such a conversation. "I'm not asking you what you said, I'm asking you if you participated in a conversation" about the Mueller inquiry. Kavanaugh said no.
A spokesman for the Kasowitz law firm Benson Torres said in a statement that no discussion of the investigation had taken place between Judge Kavanaugh and anyone in our office.
Asked earlier Thursday, Kavanaugh said he knew Ed McNally, who was working in the White House advisor's office and is currently in the office. Kavanaugh said he had not discussed the special council's investigation with McNally, and that the law firm said in a statement that McNally had not helped Kavanaugh in his auditions and did not discuss with Judge Kavanaugh. the legal issues raised by the investigation ".
Democratic senators have felt intense pressure from activists to vigorously fight against Kavanaugh's appointment. Senator Dianne Feinstein (Calif.), The Democratic's top justice committee, apologized to Kavanaugh for the protesters in the room this week. This has prompted criticism from Brian Fallon, the leader of an anti-Kavanaugh group, Demand Justice, who called it "ridiculous."
Meanwhile, a group of Liberal groups sent Charles E. Schumer (DN.Y), leader of the Senate minority, a letter reproaching him for not pressuring all Democratic senators to oppose to Kavanaugh. "The Supreme Court is online and you are failing us," they wrote.
Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Another possible White House candidate on the Judiciary Committee, questioned Kavanaugh on issues that affected party activists, including presidential power and health care.
The brutal questions the Democrats asked Kavanaugh about the most volatile political, cultural and legal battles in Trump's mandate highlight the emerging themes of the campaign, which could be one of the most open and recent in the memory.
Beyond the Judiciary Committee, other potential candidates for the presidency of the Senate have spoken out against Kavanaugh this week.
Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) Tweeted with the hashtag "#StopKavanaugh". In a tweet, she included a video listing five reasons to vote against him.
"This is a call to conscience for all of us and for the country," said Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Speaking about the appointment of Kavanaugh. Gillibrand said that she would of course vote against Kavanaugh and urged people to pressure other senators to do the same.
Several of the potential White House candidates sent emails to their supporters about their opposition to Kavanaugh this week, urging them to sign a petition and provide their contact information or donate money.
As for Booker and Harris, Judge Committee Chair Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) told reporters that he agreed with their series of questions – for the most part.
"It would be fine if they stopped at the end of their time limit," he said.
Seung Min Kim contributed to this report.
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