Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the federal appeals court in the District of Columbia more than a decade ago before being chosen for the Supreme Court left his wife, Ashley, praying he wouldn’t be tapped for that role, a new book revealed.

Kavanaugh, who was nominated and confirmed to the high court last year following a brutal confirmation fight, was an early front-runner for the seat left vacant by Justice Anthony Kennedy in summer 2018. But while Ashley Kavanaugh “was proud” he led the pack of prospective Supreme Court candidates, “she hoped he would not be nominated,” according to Justice on Trial: The Kavanaugh Confirmation and the Future of the Supreme Court.

“Perhaps because that earlier confirmation battle had been so brutal, Ashley prayed that God would deliver them from another,” authors Mollie Hemingway, senior editor at the Federalist, and Carrie Severino, chief counsel of the Judicial Crisis Network, wrote.

Kavanaugh was tapped for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit by President George W. Bush in 2003., but his nomination was blocked by Senate Democrats over his work for special prosecutor Kenneth Starr during his investigation into President Bill Clinton. Kavanaugh was eventually confirmed to the D.C.-based appeals court in 2006 and would serve there until his appointment to the Supreme Court.

The new book from Severino and Hemingway, to be published Tuesday, details the fierce battle over Kavanaugh’s confirmation to the Supreme Court. Following his hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee in early September, the future justice appeared headed for confirmation by the Senate. But the process was roiled after Christine Blasey Ford, a California professor, accused Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her in the early 1980s.

Kavanaugh vehemently denied the allegation, and the two appeared before the Judiciary Committee separately in late September. After a supplemental investigation from the FBI yielded no evidence to corroborate Ford’s claim, he was confirmed by the Senate.