Due to his years in George W. Bush’s White House Counsel’s Office and as his staff secretary, Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh is likely connected to millions of pages of records, giving Democrats a chance to overzealously request documents and slow the confirmation process.
According to a Monday Politico report, Kavanaugh is not the only nominee to come with paper baggage—Supreme Court Justices John Roberts and Elena Kagan also had held White House jobs before their nominations.
However, due to his posting as staff secretary, Kavanaugh likely came into contact with millions of documents and emails that rotated through the office.
By requesting to see all of the documents, which are public record and available for vetting, Democrats may be able to throw a wrench in the confirmation process and push Kavanaugh’s hearing until after the August recess.
Former National Archives official Sharon Fawcett told Politico that working through a million documents in a month would not be possible. She added that some documents would have to be “prioritized” to complete the job in such a short timespan, bringing up the question of who will decide which documents to release.
Per Politico, senators will also want to see documents from when Kavanaugh was working as a prosecutor for Whitewater Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr, many of which are not public.
Some of those documents may get Kavanaugh into trouble, as he reportedly routinely leaked details of the Lewinsky probe to reporters, setting up unflattering parallels with the almost leak-proof probe of Special Counsel Robert Mueller.
