Cory Booker's 'Confidential' Email Stunt Exposed as a Sham by Bush Records Official
Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., reportedly already knew certain documents deemed confidential by the Judiciary Committee had been approved for release to the public when he proclaimed at Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearing on Thursday his intention to defy Senate rules and release them.
In a dramatic confrontation with Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, Booker said “bring it,” when his Judiciary Committee colleague informed him that he could be subject to expulsion from the Senate if he decided to make his own determinations concerning confidentiality.
Booker: "Bring it! Bring it!" After being told he faces potential expulsion for releasing confidential Kavanaugh documents https://t.co/YL8pGqYl5f pic.twitter.com/afMM2wCmfB
— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) September 6, 2018
“I’m knowingly violating the rules. Sen Cornyn has called me out for it. I’m saying right now that I’m releasing committee confidential documents,” Booker said.
“This is no different from the senator deciding to release classified information,” Cornyn told Booker. “No senator deserves to sit on this committee, or serve in the Senate, in my view, if they decide to be a law unto themselves and willingly flout the rules of the Senate and the determination of confidentiality and classification.”
“Running for president is not an excuse for violating the rules of the Senate,” the Texan added, accusing Booker of grandstanding for the sake of his reputed 2020 presidential ambitions.
Sen. @CoryBooker: "I'm knowingly violating the rules. Sen Cornyn has called me out for it. I'm saying right now that I'm releasing committee confidential documents."
Senator @JohnCornyn: "Running for president is no excuse for violating the rules of the Senate…" pic.twitter.com/A2pB19ENPP
— CSPAN (@cspan) September 6, 2018
The documents Booker said he intended to release related to Kavanaugh’s time serving as a White House attorney during the George W. Bush administration. Booker referenced the content of the emails deemed “committee confidential” during public questioning Wednesday night.
“I have letters here, sir, that have asked for — now, the one email specifically entitled racial profiling that somehow — I mean, literally the email was entitled racial profiling, that somehow was designated as something that the public couldn’t see. This wasn’t — this wasn’t personal information,” Booker said, The Washington Post reported.
In the January 2002 email, Kavanaugh was advocating for race-neutral security measures in the wake of Sept. 11.
Kavanaugh’s White House correspondence is potentially subject to executive privilege and, therefore, was to be approved for public release by Bush’s records representative, William Burck.
Booker argued on Thursday that Burck is a “partisan” and should not be entrusted in the review process, according to The Post.
“No Senate rule accounts for Bill Burck’s partisan review of the documents,” Booker said. “No Senate rule and no history of the Senate accounts for what is going on right now.”
However, according to Burck, the documents Booker’s office requested be made public had been approved by him on Wednesday night, so the Bush representative was “surprised” to hear of the senator’s impassioned display.
“We cleared the documents last night shortly after Senator Booker’s staff asked us to,” he said in a statement. “We were surprised to learn about Senator Booker’s histrionics this morning because we had already told him he could use the documents publicly. In fact, we have said yes to every request made by the Senate Democrats to make documents public.”
Fox News anchor Bret Baier responded to that news, tweeting, “So unreal In the context of what that hearing devolved into at the start — ‘bring it!’”
So unreal In the context of what that hearing devolved into at the start — “bring it!” https://t.co/Xhw5shnzAH
— Bret Baier (@BretBaier) September 6, 2018
Booker’s staff confirmed to The Post what Burck said is true, but then complained about the process of getting approval.
Booker stated on Thursday that he intends to release more committee confidential documents.
Booker on Kavanaugh documents: I continue to release committee confidential documents. Now they're going to run and maybe try to say they're okay afterwards. But I will continue throughout this day to release documents that they're trying to hide from the public.
— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) September 6, 2018
He said, “I will continue throughout this day to release documents that they’re trying to hide from the public.”
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