But the quantity of files potentially at issue in Kavanaugh’s case could be unprecedented. Former officials believe millions of pages of emails and other documents circulated through Kavanaugh’s office during his time as staff secretary. If Senate Democrats insist on receiving every page, the confirmation process could grind to a crawl.
“People are going to claim they want every document that passed through the staff secretary’s office. That’s insane…to me that’s where the battle is going to be pitched,” said one GOP veteran of Supreme Court confirmation battles.
Democrats say they’re only asking for the same thing the Senate has demanded for other high court nominees. When President Barack Obama tapped Kagan in 2010, the National Archives undertook a massive effort to release 170,000 pages of records from her tenure as a policy adviser and lawyer in President Bill Clinton’s White House.
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