Brett Kavanaugh, President Trump’s nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court, proposed asking then-President Bill Clinton a series of sexually explicit questions about his relationship with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky, a 1998 memo released Monday shows.
The Aug. 15, 1998, memo, first reported by the Washington Post, was made public by the National Archives in response to Freedom of Information Act requests and among a batch of documents from Kavanaugh’s tenure working as an associate counsel with independent counsel Kenneth Starr during the Clinton administration.
[Also read: Democrats will use FOIA, ready to sue for Brett Kavanaugh documents]
The National Archives has been releasing records pertaining to Kavanaugh’s time working for Starr and then-President George W. Bush as the Senate considers his nomination to the Supreme Court.
Included among the questions Kavanaugh suggested in the memo is: “If Monica Lewinsky says that you inserted a cigar into her vagina while you were in the Oval Office area, would she be lying?”
Another suggested question from Kavanaugh was: “If Monica Lewinsky says that she gave you oral sex on nine occasions in the Oval Office area, would she be lying?”
The memo from Kavanaugh is addressed to Starr and “all attorneys,” with the subject line “Slack for the President?”
Kavanaugh tells Starr he is “strongly opposed to giving the president any ‘break’ in questioning regarding the details of the Lewinsky relationship” unless he resigns or admits to committing perjury ahead of his Aug. 17, 1998, testimony.
“The president has disgraced his office, the legal system, and the American people by having sex with a 22-year-old intern and turning her life into a shambles — callous and disgusting behavior that has somehow gotten lost in the shuffle,” Kavanaugh wrote. “He has committed perjury (at least) in the Jones case. He has turned the Secret Service upside down. He has required the urgent attention of the courts and the Supreme Court for frivolous privilege claims — all to cover up his oral sex from an intern. He has lied to his aides. He has lied to the American people. He has tried to disgrace you and this office with a sustained propaganda campaign that would make Nixon blush.”
Clinton, he continues, should be “forced to account for all of that and to defend his actions.”
Kavanaugh then lists 10 prospective questions for Clinton, though he notes the “best phrasing” would be left to others.
“It may not be our job to impose sanctions on him, but it is our job to make his pattern of revolting behavior clear — piece by painful piece — on Monday,” Kavanaugh wrote.
Trump nominated Kavanaugh to replace retiring Justice Anthony Kennedy on the Supreme Court last month.
His confirmation hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee will begin Sept. 4 and are expected to last three to four days.
