Kavanaugh says had he recognized Parkland dad at hearing, he would have shaken his hand


A free daily digest of the biggest news stories of the day - and the best features from our website
Thank you for signing up to TheWeek. You will receive a verification email shortly.
There was a problem. Please refresh the page and try again.
Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh released a 263-page document on Wednesday, responding to more than 1,000 questions from members of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
He said, among other things, that he has never had any gambling debts, finds it inappropriate to comment on President Trump's tweets, and did not recognize Fred Guttenberg, the father of a Parkland shooting victim, when Guttenberg approached him during a break in last week's hearing. Guttenberg's 14-year-old daughter, Jaime, was killed in the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in February, and Kavanaugh said he thought he was a protester. "If I had known who he was, I would have shaken his hand, talked to him, and expressed my sympathy," Kavanaugh wrote. "And I would have listened to him." (You can watch the exchange for yourself.) He added that his security detail rushed him from the room in a "split second."
Most of the questions were submitted by Democrats, asking Kavanaugh about abortion, health care, his time working in the White House under President George W. Bush, and his financial affairs. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) said asking so many questions was an attempt to "gum up the process," while Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) called it an "exercise in selective secrecy" on Kavanaugh's part. "On questions where Judge Kavanaugh felt he had something positive to say about himself or his record, he responded," Schumer added. "On every other question, including those about women's constitutional rights, unchecked presidential power, and protections for those with pre-existing conditions, he simply stonewalled."
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.
Continue reading for free
We hope you're enjoying The Week's refreshingly open-minded journalism.
Subscribed to The Week? Register your account with the same email as your subscription.
Sign up to our 10 Things You Need to Know Today newsletter
A free daily digest of the biggest news stories of the day - and the best features from our website
Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
-
Protective order
Cartoons
By The Week Staff Published
-
Astronauts return after circling Earth thousands of times while stuck in space
Speed read The astronauts were stranded on the International Space Station after their return capsule was hit by space junk
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
The daily business briefing: September 28, 2023
Business Briefing China Evergrande suspends trading on Hong Kong stock exchange, oil prices jump to highest level in a year, and more
By Harold Maass 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
-
Los Angeles city workers stage 1-day walkout over labor conditions
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published