Sen. Cory Booker early Thursday said he “knowingly violated” Senate rules and released an chain of emails from Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.
However, a spokesperson for Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley said later in the afternoon that the documents dubbed as “committee confidential” were in fact cleared for release around 4 a.m.
Booker, D-N.J., said at the beginning of Thursday’s Senate Judiciary Committee hearing that it is “civil disobedience” that the email from when Kavanaugh served as a lawyer for former President George W. Bush is not available for the public.
The email with the subject line “racial profiling,” Booker said, shows that Kavanaugh was sympathetic to racial profiling by police.
“I knowingly violated the rules that were put forth,” Booker said of his handling of committee confidential information.
[Opinion: Sen. Booker’s bombshell Kavanaugh emails are a total dud]
Cory Booker dares Senate to expel him for releasing confidential documents, knowingly violating the rules https://t.co/rHkzhpjljf pic.twitter.com/aTIH2YZ6i5
— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) September 6, 2018
“If Sen. Cornyn believes I violated Senate rules, I openly invite and accept the consequences of my team releasing that email right now,” Booker added — which he said includes expulsion from the Senate. “The emails being withheld from the public have nothing to do with national security.”
Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, chastised Booker for announcing the release of the document. “Running for president is no excuse for violating the rules of the Senate,” he said.
Booker spokesman Jeff Giertz told the Washington Examiner that the records are not classified.
Grassley has designated roughly 141,000 pages of documents from Kavanaugh’s record as “committee confidential” which means senators can see them, but they can’t be made public and used by lawmakers during Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearing. More documents were released as the hearing went on.
Booker’s Democratic colleagues stood in support of his decision to release the email: Dianne Feinstein of California, Dick Durbin of Illinois, Mazie Hirono of Hawaii and Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota.
Booker said he would not be violating rules because there is no Senate rule, but Cornyn read Senate rule 29.5 that he says allows expulsion for releasing committee confidential documents.
Booker replied: “Bring the charges.”
“Apply the rule, bring the charges. All of us are ready to face that rule,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn.
“This is about the closest I’ll ever have in my life to an ‘I am Spartacus’ moment,” Booker said.
After Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, said Republicans would work with Democrats to properly release the records, Grassley immediately ended discussion and moved on to questioning.
In a Wednesday statement, three progressive groups ― Demand Justice, MoveOn and NARAL Pro-Choice America ― urged Democrats to go around Grassley and release more records related to Kavanaugh.
“Chairman Grassley must not shield Judge Kavanaugh from evidence that Kavanaugh perjured himself in previous confirmation hearings, or any other documents or evidence relevant to his ability to serve on the highest court for a lifetime appointment,” reads the joint statement. “[Democrats] know that nothing in the Senate Standing Rules or Judiciary Committee Rules grants Grassley sole authority to designate documents ‘Committee Confidential’ or prohibit their public release.”
Kavanaugh, a member of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, will likely be confirmed when the full Senate votes later this month.
