Perjury Complaint Against Brett Kavanaugh To Be Heard By Merrick Garland

Donald Trump’s most recent Supreme Court Nominee, Brett Kavanaugh, is facing perjury complaints for his testimony before Congress during the Senate hearing for his confirmation.

The Democratic Coalition, in their initial complaint, alleges that Kavanaugh’s testimony, not only in this hearing but in other testimony before Congress, includes false statements about certain documents said to be stolen from Democratic members of the Senate Judiciary Committee. The complaint will now be heard by none other than Merrick Garland — President Obama’s pick for SCOTUS, who was denied a hearing.

According to the complaint filed by the Democratic Coalition, records show that Kavanaugh received an email from Manuel Miranda in 2002 referencing the stolen documents and asking Kavanaugh, then a White House lawyer, to take no action in the matter.

In 2003, Kavanaugh allegedly passed information from these documents on to other parties. The emails in question are appended to the complaint. However, at hearings in 2004, 2006, and again on September 5th and 6th of 2018, the document quotes Kavanaugh’s denials that he ever knew these documents existed.

On Saturday the Democratic Coalition released a statement sharing that they had filed a criminal complaint and would submit an additional judicial ethics complaint on Monday — which would be filed with the D.C. Circuit Court — to be reviewed by Judge Merrick Garland, who is the Chief Judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

Explaining the background and relevance of the documents and Kavanaugh’s connection to them, Washington Post reported that former Senate Judiciary counsel Manuel Miranda gained access in 2002 to records belonging Democrats on the panel. As a White House attorney, Kavanaugh was working at the time to confirm judicial nominees for President Bush.

Kavanaugh and Miranda are accused of using the stolen documents to, in the words of Senator Patrick Leahy, “assist in getting President Bush’s most controversial judicial nominees confirmed.”

The emails, as attached to the complaint, from Miranda to Kavanaugh mention information shared among Democrats on the committee, and there are replies from Kavanaugh acknowledging receipt of these missives. Miranda has responded to questions, saying that he shared the information with Kavanaugh but didn’t mention where he had gotten the intel. Senator Patrick Leahy, whose files were shared with Kavanaugh, said on Thursday that documents Kavanaugh received from his files were clearly marked “not for distribution,” despite his testimony that he had never received any material that “appeared to … have been drafted or prepared by Democratic staff.”

Bottom line: You don’t get inside intel about what Democratic senators are thinking, what confidential letters they’re receiving, & what their staff is advising, MARKED “HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL” without knowing something was DEEPLY WRONG. pic.twitter.com/eGfIb8CRcb — Sen. Patrick Leahy (@SenatorLeahy) September 6, 2018

Describing “a congressional record of lies,” the Democratic Coalition’s Scott Dworkin spoke Friday to say that Kavanaugh used the stolen documents to prepare judicial nominees to answer questions from Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee, and that he has falsified testimony to Congress to cover up that unethical behavior. If Judge Garland feels there is sufficient cause, he can appoint a Special Judiciary Committee to carry out a formal inquiry into Brett Kavanaugh’s testimony.