The news that Supreme Court Justice David Souter would retire, first reported by NPR’s Nina Totenberg and NBC’s Pete Williams, hit Washington hard on the evening of Thursday, April 30. White House officials made no comment until the next day, after Souter sent a letter to the president outlining his plans.
The news was a surprise to most observers, many of whom had expected some other member of the Court to leave before Souter. But now it looks like the White House got a heads-up at least a few days before the world found out. In her 172-page questionnaire submitted to the Senate Judiciary Committee this afternoon, Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor said she was contacted by the White House on Monday, April 27, days before the news broke. In response to a question asking her to “describe your experience in the entire judicial selection process, from beginning to end,” Sotomayor wrote:
I was contacted by Gregory Craig, White House Counsel, on Monday, April 27, 2009, with respect to the possibility of a future Supreme Court vacancy. Between that date and the present, I have had frequent telephone conversations with Cassandra Butts, Deputy White House Counsel, including near daily phone calls after Justice Souter on May 1, 2009 announced his intention to resign at the end of the current Supreme Court term. On May 14, 2009, I was interviewed in person at my office by Leslie Kiernan, an attorney at Zuckerman Spaeder LLP. I was interviewed by telephone on Saturday, May 16 by Gregory Craig, Cynthia Hogan, Counsel to the Vice President, Ron Klain, Chief of Staff to the Vice President, David Axelrod, Senior Advisor to the President, Daniel Pfeiffer, White House Deputy Communications Director and Cassandra Butts. I was interviewed on Thursday, May 21, 2009 by members of the Administration including Gregory Craig, Cassandra Butts, Associate Counsel to the President Susan Davies, Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, David Axelrod, Ronald Klain, and Cynthia Hogan. Finally, I was interviewed by the President on May 21, 2009, and by the Vice President by telephone on Sunday, May 24, 2009. I have also had numerous phone conversations with different groupings of the individuals listed above. Other individuals have at times participated in these conversations, including Trevor Morrison, Associate Counsel to the President, Alison Nathan, Associate Counsel to the President, and Diana Beinart, Tax Counsel.
Given that Craig got in touch with Sotomayor on Monday, April 27, it appears that the White House had at least four days’ notice, and possibly more, before Souter told the president.
On May 1, the New York Times reported that President Obama “said through a spokesman on Friday [May 1] that he had no direct knowledge of Mr. Souter’s plans.” But later in the article, the Times reported that, “One senior administration official said Mr. Obama’s aides had gotten a hint of Mr. Souter’s plans, which were first reported by National Public Radio. ‘He indicated he may a while ago,’ the official said. But many senior officials contacted Thursday night said they had not yet been informed.” So just what happened and when is not quite clear.
