The Senate Judiciary tweet (the account is controlled by the Majority and has been explicitly partisan in its statements) is factually wrong when it claims there was never "a whiff" of information on "inappropriate sexual behavior or alcohol abuse" by Kavanaugh in his already-compiled background checks. But those records are to be kept strictly confidential: Senators are not allowed to reveal their contents, even (seemingly) when the information is directly pertinent to public allegations and testimony.

In the public Republican claims that those records do not contain information on "inappropriate sexual behavior or alcohol abuse", Senate Democrats are accusing Republicans of both breaking that confidentiality and lying; while Democrats cannot directly reveal what is in those files, they feel they can publicly respond to a Republican announcement of their contents that, each of the Democrats who have seen those files believe, is untrue.

This is resulting in a Senate knife fight on Twitter, because this is our lives now, but it seems Judiciary Committee Republicans may have opened the door to revealing possible concerns over Kavanaugh's record that could not have been made public if it were not for Republicans botching things with improper public assertions about those government files.

As for the absence of Sens. Coons and Klobuchar on the letter, that's likely strategic. Sen. Coons is being a one-man Flake Whisperer, attempting to guide his Senate friend into perhaps growing a spine, and it was Klobuchar's questioning of Kavanaugh that led to one of Kavanaugh's more spectacular public meltdowns.

If Democrats are right, however, Kavanaugh was nominated for the Supreme Court despite a record that contained questions either about his "inappropriate sexual behavior" or "alcohol abuse." That's not too surprising, given the revelations his former classmates have been willing to pipe up with in recent days, but it's also another reminder that none of this is going away. Reporters are finding out about it; witnesses continue to come forward. If Republicans scramble to hastily put Kavanaugh on the Court anyway then those revelations will, instead of raising questions about a single flawed candidate, raise questions about the legitimacy of the Court itself. And rightly so.