Jeff Merkley: Lawsuit seeking Kavanaugh injunction is ‘not desperate’

“The president has deployed his executive team to proceed to interfere with the senators’ ability to get the key information to review the record of this nominee, Brett Kavanaugh,” he explained. “It’s an outrageous violation of the separation of powers, and it’s compromising my ability and my colleagues’ ability to fulfill the pledge they took when they took the oath of office.”

Merkley’s lawsuit, filed with the federal district court in Washington, alleges that President Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., are hindering senators from properly advising on and consenting to Kavanaugh’s nomination because they have withheld documents from the judge’s time in the George W. Bush administration. The suit also asserts doing so has infringed the constitutional doctrine that dictates the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of the U.S. federal government should operate independently of one another.

Merkley on Wednesday also defended his decision to send a fundraising email based on the suit, calling on supporters to “donate to our efforts to build a blue wave that stops the Trump/GOP assault on our We the People democratic values in its tracks.” He said the message was simply a way to keep his constituency abreast of his work in Congress.

“You’re the one bringing it up and making it political in that context,” Merkley said, when pressed. “I’m here talking to you about the fundamental nature of this violation of our Constitution.”