The Iowa caucuses are more than a year-and-a-half away but Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., just sprinted to the front of the pack of Democratic presidential hopefuls with his stunt in the Senate Judiciary Committee. He broke Senate rules (albeit pointlessly), earning the love of the #Resistance establishment, and thus pulling ahead of committee colleague and presidential rival, Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif.
Booker released emails from Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh’s time in the White House marked “committee confidential.” Before pushing publish Thursday morning, he was begging to be made a martyr admitting that the move wasn’t allowed.
“I knowingly violated the rules that were put forth,” Booker told Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa. “If Sen. Cornyn believes I violated Senate rules, I openly invite and accept the consequences of my team releasing that email right now,” he added—which he said includes expulsion from the Senate. “The emails being withheld from the public have nothing to do with national security.”
[Opinion: At Kavanaugh hearings, it’s Kamala vs. Cory]
So proud of my friend @CoryBooker https://t.co/qiNnSN2DpH
— Neera Tanden ? (@neeratanden) September 6, 2018
Booker then launched into a lengthy speech. He was warned against releasing the documents on his own. He was given an explanation. Nevertheless, he persisted. The emails can now be read here.
Republicans haven’t taken the bait and retaliated so far. But while Booker was not removed from the Senate in a blaze of progressive glory, he did receive the de-facto endorsement of every Democrat on the committee. One by one, Dianne Feinstein of California, Dick Durbin of Illinois, Mazie Hirono of Hawaii, and Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota stood by Booker.
“Apply the rule, bring the charges,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., “All of us are ready to face that rule.” But none of them had to. The dramatics were unnecessary because the committee has a process for releasing sensitive documents. Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, even offered to work with Booker to properly publish the emails. Booker, of course, wasn’t interested in transparency so much as he was in politicking.
It has quickly become apparent that the Kavanaugh hearings are nothing more than auditions for 2020. Ambitious Democratic senators aren’t so much interested in advising and consenting as they are focused on advertising themselves and kicking off their campaigns.
And two days after sending fundraising emails during the proceedings, Booker gave what sounded an awful lot like a campaign pitch. He talked about civil disobedience. He talked about his ideals. He talked about himself so much that Grassley interrupted to ask how long Booker was “going to say the same thing three or four times?” Not everyone had as much patience like Sen. Jon Cornyn, R-Texas, who scolded that “running for president is no excuse for violating the rules of the Senate.”
But lawlessness has quickly become the brand of a party that calls for abolishing entire government agencies, harassing government officials, and now apparently violating government rules. For now, it seems Booker has surged to the front of the pack. Harris, his main rival, was reduced to saying “I stand with my colleague Cory Booker.” If she wants to keep up, she will need to think of a counter—and quickly.
