Delaware’s junior Sen. Chris Coons and other Senate Democrats tried to delay the start of Tuesday’s Supreme Court confirmation hearings.
Coons said the Senate Judiciary Committee and the public deserve to understand what kind of justice Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh would be.
But he said the secrecy and partisanship of the process has made that nearly impossible.
Coons said the Trump White House and Senate Republicans are blocking or withholding millions of documents Democrats are demanding they and the public be able to see.
“This leads to a difficult, but important question, which is what might President Trump or the majority be trying to hide. Mr. Chairman, I want to make an appeal to work together to restore the integrity of this committee,” he said.
The Trump administration will not release 100,000 documents from Kavanaugh’s time serving under President George W. Bush - asserting executive privilege.
Coons said the level of concealment is unprecedented and urged Kavanaugh to do what Republicans would not.
“A few moments ago, Sen. Durbin proposed a bold step, which would be for you to support suspending this hearing until all of your records are produced and available to this committee and the American people and I encourage you to do this,” he said.
Republican Judiciary Committee Chair Chuck Grassley maintains Kavanaugh’s confirmation process is the most transparent ever.
Coons and other Committee members will have the opportunity to question Kavanaugh on his views Wednesday.
Coons noted in his opening statement he’s also concerned about how Kavanaugh will vote in cases involving voting rights, abortion and LGBTQ rights.
