Senate given 42,000 pages of Kavanaugh documents, Schumer says
Senate Minority leader Chuck Schumer, D-New York, said late Monday that the Senate had been given an additional 42,000 pages of documents about Brett Kavanaugh, the night before confirmation hearings are due to start. The White House said Friday that it would not be releasing 100,000 Kavanaugh's records from the Bush White House on the basis of presidential privilege.
The late Monday release "underscores just how absurd this process is. Not a single senator will be able to review these records before tomorrow," Schumer tweeted.
Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing is set to start Tuesday. He is expected to be questioned on topics that include abortion, guns, healthcare and even President Trump, CBS News chief Washington correspondent Paula Reid reports.
Kavanaugh has an "extensive" paper trail after decades of life in public service, including his work investigating former President Bill Clinton and his time in the second Bush, Reid said.
George W. Bush's attorney Bill Burck told the panel it had essentially completed its work compiling documents, according to a letter obtained by The Associated Press. Bush directed them to err "on the side of transparency and disclosure, and we believe we have done so."
But the current administration is also able to review the records, and the Trump White House "has directed that we not provide these documents," the letter says.