Sherpa Kyl Says Supreme Court Nominee Kavanaugh's Done "Very Good Job", Ready For Confirmation Hearing Tomorrow

Former Arizona Senator Jon Kyl has been Brett Kavanaugh's "sherpa" for his nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court. On the eve of Tuesday's confirmation hearing, Kyl tells Arizona's Politics this weekend that Kavanaugh "has done a very good job in his 'interviews'". Kyl also says that he has not been involved in the White House's decision-making process on which documents should be made public for the confirmation battle.

Evan Vucci (AP)

Democratic Senators on the Judiciary Committee are protesting last week's decision by the White House to assert executive privilege on some 100,000 pages of documents from Kavanaugh's record while he worked for the Bush Administration.* They are insisting that documents currently marked "Committee Confidential" be publicly released in order to question the nominee about them.

In an email to Arizona's Politics, Kyl said that that document production "is handled by White House Counsel" (currently, Don McGahn). The longtime Arizona lawmaker has been involved in "helping follow up on questions, etc" after their meetings with Senators. "I believe he has done a very good job in his 'interviews'."

Jeff Flake, Kyl's replacement in the Senate, is on the Senate Judiciary Committee and will be participating in the hearing that starts tomorrow. He has not released any public statements on the Supreme Court nominee since shortly after President Trump named him.

*The attorney for the former Bush Administration stated that they cleared those pages - and, more - for public release. He said the former President told him to err "on the side of transparency and disclosure, and we believe we have done so.”


If you would like to show your appreciation for Arizona's Politics reporting, please consider donating to our pool to support OTHER journalism-related nonprofits. 

We welcome your comments about this post. Or, if you have something unrelated on your mind, please e-mail to info-at-arizonaspolitics-dot-com or call 602-799-7025. Thanks.