Merkley Sues Trump, Grassley To Halt Kavanaugh Confirmation

PORTLAND, OR – With a growing number of accusations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, Sen. Jeff Merkley, an Oregon Democrat, is in court trying to bring a halt to the confirmation process. He filed papers Wednesday morning seeking an injunction.

Merkley is suing President Trump, Senate Judiciary Chairman Charles Grassley of Iowa, and others, alleging that the Executive Branch's decision to withhold what he calls "key documents" is a violation of the separation of powers.

Merkley says that holding back the documents obstructs the Senate's constitutional duty to provide advice and consent. Get all the latest information on what's happening in your community by signing up for Patch's newsletters and breaking news alerts.

"This President has gone to lengths never seen before to make sure we can’t do that job," Merkley said in a statement to Patch.

"The unprecedented obstruction of the Senate’s advice and consent obligation is an assault on the separation of powers and a violation of the Constitution."

The suit highlights what it calls "three acts of direct interference" in which Trump and Senate leaders conspired to conceal key documents.

A press release sent out accompanying the suit, says that the defendants:

• "Conspired to conceal from the Senate and public all of the documents from Kavanaugh’s three most formative professional years, as staff secretary in the George W. Bush White House;
• "Conspired to conceal 100,000 documents from Kavanaugh’s time of service as a lawyer in the White House Counsel’s Office under President George W. Bush, and gave "presidential privilege" to a private lawyer, William Burck, to block Senate access to the relevant documents;" and
• "Conspired to further limit access to documents by directing Burck to label 141,000 pages “Committee Confidential,” limiting the ability of Senators to speak about them and to communicate with experts and members of the public about the contents."

Calls to the White House and the offices of McConnell and Grassley were not immediately returned.

FACEBOOK LIVE VIDEO VIA SEN. MERKLEY'S OFFICE:

READ THE LAWSUIT:

Complaint Merkley v Trump

Last year, Merkley — often mentioned as a possible presidential contender in 2020 — delivered a 15-hour filibuster on the Senate floor in an unsuccessful attempt to stop the confirmation of Neil Gorsuch.

Photo and video courtesy Sen. Merkley's Office.