Sen. Cory Booker 'knowingly violates' rules to publish confidential Kavanaugh documents
Senate Democrats broke protocol to release documents on Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.
Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) on Thursday sent out an email with 12 pages of documents that were "committee confidential" after announcing during the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing that he found it unacceptable that they were not public. He said he was "knowingly violating the rules" in order to release them.
"I am right now, before your process is finished, I am going to release the email about racial profiling, and I understand the penalty comes with potential ousting from the Senate," Booker said at the confirmation hearing.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The documents included email discussions between Kavanaugh and government officials about racial inequality. In one email, Kavanaugh said the "desire to remedy societal discrimination is not a compelling interest" in creating an Office of Native American Affairs within the Small Business Administration. He also discussed an "interim" solution to racial profiling concerns at airports, suggesting that racial profiling may be justified in the short term to prevent terrorism before the government could develop a "race-neutral" strategy.
Booker's fellow Democrats, such as Sen. Mazie Hirono (Hawaii) and Sen. Richard Blumenthal (Conn.), expressed support for the move, also suggesting they might release more "committee confidential" documents. Republican Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) said Booker's choice to break the rules was "conduct unbecoming of a senator," threatening to bring charges against him for the violation. Booker challenged him to "bring the charges. Bring it." Summer Meza
Update 1:50 p.m. ET: Bill Burck, the lawyer who handles former President George W. Bush's public records, released a statement Thursday saying that he was "surprised to learn about [Booker's] histrionics" because his team, which oversaw the review of Kavanaugh's documents, "had already told [Booker] he could use the documents publicly." He added: "We have said yes to every request made by the Senate Democrats to make documents public." Read his full statement here.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Summer Meza has worked at The Week since 2018, serving as a staff writer, a news writer and currently the deputy editor. As a proud news generalist, she edits everything from political punditry and science news to personal finance advice and film reviews. Summer has previously written for Newsweek and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, covering national politics, transportation and the cannabis industry.
-
LA-to-Las Vegas high-speed rail line breaks ground
Speed Read The railway will be ready as soon as 2028
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Israel's military intelligence chief resigns
Speed Read Maj. Gen. Aharon Haliva is the first leader to quit for failing to prevent the Hamas attack in October
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
Today's political cartoons - April 23, 2024
Cartoons Tuesday's cartoons - Gen Z remonstrated, plastic recycling, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Puffed rice and yoga: inside the collapsed tunnel where Indian workers await rescue
Speed Read Workers trapped in collapsed tunnel are suffering from dysentery and anxiety over their rescue
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
More than 2,000 dead following massive earthquake in Morocco
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
Mexico's next president will almost certainly be its 1st female president
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
North Korea's Kim to visit Putin in eastern Russia to discuss arms sales for Ukraine war, U.S. says
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
Gabon's military leader sworn in following coup in latest African uprising
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
Nobody seems surprised Wagner's Prigozhin died under suspicious circumstances
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
Western mountain climbers allegedly left Pakistani porter to die on K2
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
'Circular saw blades' divide controversial Rio Grande buoys installed by Texas governor
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published