BURLINGTON, Vt. — The senior senator from Vermont told reporters he believes that Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh lied under oath during his confirmation hearings.

Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee that sent Kavanaugh's nomination Friday to the full Senate on a party-line vote, characterized testimony from Kavanaugh not related to the hot-button sexual assault allegation as "misleading" when the appeals court judge was questioned about handling information in the early 2000s that the senator says were stolen from Democrats, including himself.

Last month, Kavanaugh answered "no" when asked if he knew that he was dealing with stolen property. But Monday the senator showed copies of 8 pages of documents allegedly taken from him that were marked confidential and not for distribution.

Leahy previously questioned Kavanaugh about the documents in 2004 during his confirmation hearing as a federal appeals court judge, and again in 2006 during his successful bid for a seat on the District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals.

► Oct. 1:Kavanaugh was 'belligerent and aggressive' drinker, Yale classmate says

► Oct. 1:Trump swipes at Cory Booker over Kavanaugh. Is it 2020 already?

► Oct. 1:Kentucky's Rep. John Yarmuth worries Supreme Court in jeopardy

"These are emails and tapes stolen from Democratic members on the Senate Judiciary Committee," Leahy said.

As The Washington Post reports:

Leahy’s charge stems from an infamous episode between 2001 and 2003 when a Republican counsel on the Senate Judiciary Committee, Manuel Miranda, learned that Democrats on the panel had put documents on a computer server shared with Republicans. Miranda said in an interview that he read them to learn about the party’s strategy on judicial nominations coming before the committee.

At the hearings in 2004 and 2006, Kavanaugh said he learned about how Miranda obtained the documents from news reports. This year Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., asked the question about the stolen documents and received a simple no.

Asked if he thought Kavanaugh lied under oath, Leahy responded, "I want the rest of the records. I wonder why they are hiding 90 percent of his records because they would show whether he has or not. I feel he has."

On Thursday, Christine Blasey Ford testified that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her when both were teenagers. Kavanaugh vigorously denied the allegation.

► Oct. 1:Battle over Brett Kavanaugh leaves Supreme Court short-handed

► Oct. 1:FBI has not yet contacted Kavanaugh accuser Julie Swetnick

"I've never seen anything like this," Leahy said of the confirmation process that will continue this week with an FBI investigation into allegation of sexual misconduct against the Trump nominee. According to Leahy, the scope of that investigation requested by the committee "will have no restrictions."

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. released a statement Saturday also drilling down on Kavanaugh's honesty.

"A fundamental question the FBI can help answer is whether Judge Kavanaugh has been truthful with the committee. This goes to the very heart of whether he should be confirmed to the court," Sanders wrote in the statement.

Follow Nicole Higgins DeSmet on Twitter: @NicoleHDeSmet