House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) and Rep. Hank Johnson (D-GA) who chairs the Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property and the Internet, recently sent a letter to the National Archives and Records Administration requesting that it complete its review and release records of Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s service at the White House from 2001 to 2006. The now Supreme Court Justice served as Staff Secretary and also served in the White House Counsel’s Office during that time period. 

Both Members of Congress noted in their letter that the Committee only received a small fraction of Justice Kavanaugh’s White House record before his confirmation to the Supreme Court. “As it has in the past, the Committee is considering legislative proposals to create a code of conduct for Supreme Court Justices. It has also reviewed other proposals in recent years regarding transparency in the Supreme Court’s proceedings, the adequacy of the Justices’ financial disclosures, and the circumstances in which Justices or judges must disqualify themselves from cases,” the letter said.

The Committee’s letter requests access to Justice Kavanaugh’s emails, textual records and reveals that, “under the Presidential Records Act, Justice Kavanaugh’s fuller White House record will begin to be made available to the American people in January 2021.” 

If said documents reveal inconsistencies with Kavanaugh’s testimony to Congress, he might be required to recuse himself from future cases brought before the Supreme Court. 

Last year, Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearing was mired in controversy after Dr. Blasey Ford publicly brought allegations of sexual misconduct forward against the Supreme Court nominee. The widely televised 2018 hearings ignited public calls for his disqualification from the lifetime appointment and subsequently for his impeachment upon confirmation. Evidence of perjury also emerged around his testimony during 2004 and 2006 confirmation hearings to the US Court of Appeals for the D.C Circuit.  

This latest development signals an effort by the House Judiciary Committee that could hold Justice Brett Kavanaugh accountable. It remains to be seen, however, how serious the Committee’s investigation will be: whether it will just be another oversight hearing, or whether the Committee will investigate whether to recommend articles of impeachment. 

Free Speech For People first called for an impeachment investigation of Justice Kavanaugh in September 2018, based on Kavanaugh’s apparent perjury before the Senate Judiciary Committee in 2004, 2006, and 2018. In October 2018, we reiterated the call for an impeachment investigation, based on multiple counts of sexual assault, perjury, and bringing the judiciary into disrepute. Since then, the case for an impeachment investigation has only grown.

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