Sen. Cory Booker called it his “I am Spartacus” moment.
As an act of “civil disobedience,” the Democrat from New Jersey was about to release what he thought were committee-confidential documents in a bid to protest the classification of some emails requested as part of the Supreme Court confirmation hearings for Judge Brett Kavanaugh.
“I am going to release the email about racial profiling and I understand that the penalty comes with potential ousting from the Senate,” Booker (D-N.J.) said on Sept. 6. “I am knowingly violating the rules.”
Minutes later, the documents appeared on Booker’s Twitter account for all to see. But either Booker or his staff must have missed an important email that morning. The Justice Department (DOJ) had already cleared the documents for public release.
“Apparently, someone just wanted to break the rules and make a scene, but didn’t check their email,” a spokesman for committee Republicans told Fox News.
“All of this drama this morning apparently was for nothing and it’s unfortunate,” Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) told reporters during a break in the hearings. “It had already been worked out that this was going to be released to the public.”
Booker said he would release what he thought was a committee-confidential email to show that the email didn’t contain any sensitive national security-related material, arguing that he didn’t agree with the “confidential” designation and that the public deserved to see the email.
Booker had brought up the same email in an exchange with Kavanaugh on the previous day of the hearings but refused to let the judge see the email. The move drew an objection from a Republican counterpart who argued that it’s unfair to question Kavanaugh about a document he couldn’t see.
When it was still unclear whether the documents Booker was vowing to release were already cleared, Cornyn criticized Booker for pulling a political stunt. Republicans have a slim majority in the Senate and are expected to confirm Kavanaugh even if Democrats oppose the nomination unanimously. As a result, Republicans view the protests and complaints during the three days of the confirmation hearings as theatrics.
“Running for president is no excuse for violating the Senate or the confidentiality of the documents we are privy to,” Cornyn said, referring to Booker’s potential 2020 presidential bid. “This is no different from the senator deciding to release classified information that is deemed classified by the executive branch because you happen to disagree with the classification decision.”
At the core of the disagreement between the Democrats and the Republicans are thousands of documents related to Kavanaugh’s tenure at the White House as the staff secretary for George W. Bush. Under the Presidential Records Act, either Bush or the current White House can designate certain documents committee-confidential. Those documents can be viewed by the committee but aren’t immediately available to the public.
According to Bill Burck, the records representative for Bush, the documents in question were cleared the night before the hearing.
“We were surprised to learn about Senator Booker’s histrionics this morning because we had already told him he could use the documents publicly,” Burck said in a statement. “In fact, we have said yes to every request made by the Senate Democrats to make documents public.”
After Booker had his “Spartacus” moment, several Democratic senators on the committee said that they would accept the responsibility for the release of the document along with him. Booker later argued that no Senate rule exists regarding the release of committee-confidential documents.
“This is not a Senate rule. I did not violate a Senate rule,” Booker said. “I did knowingly violate the chair’s rule on the committee-confidential process. I take full responsibility for violating that, sir.”
Booker then challenged Cornyn to expel him from the Senate for violating the rules.
“This is probably the closest I will get in my life to an ‘I am Spartacus’ moment,” Booker added. “If he feels that I and now my fellow colleagues who are with me have violated those rules, if he is not a tempest in a teapot, but sincerely believes that, then bring the charges.”
“Any Senator, officer or employee of the Senate who shall disclose the secret or confidential business or proceedings of the Senate, including the business and proceedings of the committees, subcommittees and offices of the Senate shall be liable, if a Senator, to suffer expulsion from the body; and if an officer or employee, to dismissal from the service of the Senate, and to punishment for contempt.”
“There is clearly a rule,” Cornyn said.
“Then, apply the rule and bring it. Bring it,” Booker responded.
At the beginning of the hearing, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) noted that a process exists for making the committee-confidential documents public. Booker had refused to show Kavanaugh the email because it was confidential, but never asked the committee to make it public, Grassley said.
“There was nothing preventing any senator from asking me before the hearing to get this document publicly released. In fact, the request was made for the first time to release these documents last night after the senator asked the question of the nominee,” Grassley said.
The chairman also said that the DOJ was working to declassify the documents in question and that the senators would have them before the end of the day.
Grassley’s update on the declassification didn’t prevent Booker from going ahead with his vow to release the documents minutes later.
The documents Booker posted include several emails from 2001 and 2002 where Kavanaugh weighs in on legal issues related to the use of a race as a factor in airport security in the wake of 9/11. The email chain didn’t appear to be damaging to Kavanaugh, since he wrote that he favored a race-neutral approach to national security.
