by Molly Prince
Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah criticized Democrats on Thursday over their superfluous request to gain access to and review over a million additional documents prior to the confirmation of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court.
Speaking with other members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Hatch expressed his disappointment in Kavanaugh’s confirmation process, specifically regarding the partisanship on the side of the Democrats.
“We can’t keep going down this partisan, picky, stupid dumbass road that has happened around here for so long,” Hatch said, according to a C-SPAN recording. “I am sick and tired of it to be honest with you and I’m tired of the partisanship, and frankly, we didn’t treat their candidates for these positions the way their treating ours.”
Democrats have demanded volumes of archived documents from when Kavanaugh worked as a staff secretary for former President George W. Bush, an unprecedented request for a Supreme Court nominee. While Democrats claim Republicans are trying to “hide” Kavanaugh’s past by not releasing the documents, Republicans are claiming Democrats are stonewalling the confirmation hearing.
“When you look at Judge Kavanaugh, if you want a choir boy to be on the court, in other words, from a reputational standpoint, he’s it,” Hatch said. “He’s a very fine person, he’s lived a very fine life, he’s got all the legal credentials you’d ever want in a Supreme Court justice. He’s not offended anybody as far as I can see. It’s just amazing to me that make such a farce out of this.”
Kavanaugh is expected to begin attending the Senate Judiciary Committee hearings in September, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell hopes to schedule a confirmation vote prior to the midterm elections in November.
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Molly Prince is a reporter at Daily Caller News Foundation. Follow Molly on Twitter.
