Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer suggested Tuesday that Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh had misled him during their hour-and-a-half one-on-one meeting at the Capitol, and claimed that Kavanaugh had failed to offer assurances that abortion rights would not be overturned if he is confirmed.
Schumer’s broadsides were a preview of lines of attack Democratic senators are expected to use during Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearing in September.
“The judge either wouldn’t answer, or couldn’t remember key moments of his tenure. He acknowledged being part of the White House’s response to the Enron case, but couldn’t provide any details about what he did. … His lack of recollection on almost everything didn’t ring true,” Schumer, D-N.Y., said, referring to Kavanaugh’s five years as a lawyer in the Bush administration. “This is a bright man.”
Asked later by a reporter if he was accusing Kavanaugh of lying, Schumer said flatly, “I’ll leave it at what I said.”
The top Senate Democrat went on to criticize Kavanaugh’s answers to his questions on abortion rights, a key issue for moderate Republican senators who could be pivotal in securing or denying Kavanaugh’s confirmation.
“I understand that the judge told other members today that he considered Roe v. Wade settled law,” Schumer said. “He did not say that to me.” – READ MORE
[divider][/divider]GOP Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, a pro-choice moderate who holds a decisive vote on judicial confirmations, met privately Tuesday with Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Collins said she had a wide-ranging discussion with Kavanaugh in which abortion featured prominently.
“We talked about whether he considered Roe to be settled law,” Collins said.
“He said he agreed with what Chief Justice Roberts said at his nomination hearing, in which he said that it was settled law.”
“We had a very good, thorough discussion,” she added.
In that connection, Collins told reporters that she asked Kavanaugh about his dissent in a 2017 case called Azar v. Garza, in which the full U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ordered the Trump administration to provide abortion access for an undocumented minor in federal custody. – READ MORE
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