WASHINGTON, DC – Today, U.S. Senator Jack Reed (D-RI), the Ranking Member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, formally requested access to all relevant records pertaining to Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s involvement with national security issues during his tenure as a member of the White House Counsel’s Office and as White House Staff Secretary.

In a letter to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Reed asked Grassley to provide all members of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and staff with appropriate clearance, with access to records under the Judiciary Committee’s control pertaining to Kavanaugh’s work on national security issues, terrorism, torture, international and domestic surveillance, and the scope of presidential authority. 

Judge Kavanaugh called his time serving as George W. Bush’s staff secretary as “the most interesting and formative for me.”  Yet in a break with their own past demands and standards, Republicans are attempting to restrict access to relevant documents pertaining to his White House service. 

Senator Reed also asked the Judiciary Committee to work with the Armed Services Committee to obtain additional records from the National Archives regarding Kavanaugh’s work on national security issues before the Senate votes on Kavanaugh’s nomination.

“Chairman Grassley has a long record of bipartisan leadership and he understands better than most how important it is for Senators to have all the facts before they vote on a lifetime appointment.  Every Senator needs to do their due diligence as they perform their constitutional duties, and the American people deserve to have a fair and thorough understanding about the nominee’s views and record,” said Senator Reed.  “It is in everybody’s best interest, including the nominee’s, the Court’s, the Committee’s, and most of all -- the American people’s -- that Judge Kavanaugh get a thorough, fair, and transparent vetting.  So for the public good, I hope we can lift some of the needless restrictions on viewing the nominee’s record.”

Judge Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearings are set to begin on September 4. 

The full text of the letter follows:

August 22, 2018

Dear Chairman Grassley

As the Ranking Member of the Committee on Armed Services, I request that you provide the members of the Armed Services Committee, as well as committee staff with appropriate clearance, access to records under the Judiciary Committee’s control regarding Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s service in the White House that address national security and the scope of presidential authority on national security matters. This request includes access to records concerning the George W. Bush Administration’s responses to the September 11th terror attacks; the rendition, detention, and interrogation of suspected enemy combatants, including the development of the so-called enhanced interrogation techniques; and international and domestic surveillance. I also request that we work together to obtain any additional such records that are not under your control from the National Archives before the Senate concludes its debate on Judge Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court of the United States.

Judge Kavanaugh’s service in the White House Counsel’s Office, and as Staff Secretary under President Bush, placed him in a position to influence legal policy for the Bush Administration. He served in these roles when that administration developed novel, and at times concerning, theories of presidential power in the area of national security.

The Supreme Court is the final authority on the interpretation of our Constitution, including the scope of the President’s national security powers. The Senators serving on the Armed Services Committee should have access to facts about Judge Kavanaugh’s involvement in past presidential assertions of national security authority in order to carry out the Senate’s Constitutional responsibility to provide advice and consent on his nomination to the Supreme Court. I look forward to working with you to carry out this request. 

Sincerely,

Jack Reed

Kavanaugh Letter