Kamala Harris goes viral grilling Kavanaugh on laws restricting the male body

U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) listens as Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh appears for his confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Click through the gallery for an overview of Harris's political life. less U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) listens as Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh appears for his confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Click through the gallery for an overview of ... more Photo: Drew Angerer / Getty Images Photo: Drew Angerer / Getty Images Image 1 of / 47 Caption Close Kamala Harris goes viral grilling Kavanaugh on laws restricting the male body 1 / 47 Back to Gallery

Sen Kamala Harris', D-Calif., background as a seasoned prosecutor was on full display during the hearings for Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh this week, highlighted by an especially tense exchange over bodily autonomy. The moment came after Democrats had repeatedly pressed Kavanaugh to clarify his views on Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 case that recognized a constitutional right to abortion.

"Can you think of any laws that give the government the power to make decisions about the male body?" Harris asked Kavanaugh, in an exchange that has since gone viral.

"Uh, I'm happy to answer a more specific question but," he said, trailing off.

"Male versus female," Harris prodded him.

"Medical procedures?" asked Kavanaugh.

"That the government has the power to make a decision about a man's body?" Harris asked.

"I thought you were asking about medical procedures that are unique to men," said Kavanaugh.

Can you think of any laws that give the government the power to make decisions about the male body?pic.twitter.com/lDcXPZ56hX — Kamala Harris (@SenKamalaHarris) September 6, 2018

"I'll repeat the question," said Harris with a smile, speaking slowly and deliberately. "Can you think of any laws that give the government power to make decisions about the male body.

"I'm not aware — I'm not — thinking of any right now, senator," he replied, stammering a bit.

A video clip of the exchange tweeted by Harris has since been retweeted over 17,000 times.

In an email leaked by Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J. — a move that led Booker's colleague John Cornyn, R-Texas, to threaten expelling him from the Senate, before the disagreement was ultimately resolved — Kavanaugh proposed deleting a line from a draft of an opinion piece that referred to Roe v. Wade as "settled law of the land."

"I am not sure that all legal scholars refer to Roe as the settled law of the land at the Supreme Court level since Court can always overrule its precedent, and three current Justices on the Court would do so," Kavanaugh wrote in the email, according to the New York Times.

Harris' questioning of Kavanaugh also drew attention on Wednesday when she hammered him repeatedly on whether he has discussed Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian election interference with anyone from Donald Trump's law firm.

Kavanaugh said repeatedly that he wasn't sure who worked at the law firm, asking Harris to tell him who she was thinking of that he might have spoken with.

"I think you're thinking of someone," Harris said, "and you don't want to tell us."

Filipa Ioannou is an SFGATE staff writer. Email her at fioannou@sfchronicle.com and follow her on Twitter