Dianne Feinstein (D - CA) Definitely No 2018 election seat
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September 16: Senator Dianne Feinstein, the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, called the accusations “extremely serious” and said they “bear heavily on Judge Kavanaugh’s character.” She urged critics of his accuser to stop “the attacks and stop shaming her.” (The New York Times)
September 16: “I support Mrs. Ford’s decision to share her story, and now that she has, it is in the hands of the FBI to conduct an investigation. This should happen before the Senate moves forward on this nominee," Feinstein said Sunday afternoon. (Politico)
September 16: In a statement to The Post, Feinstein said: “I agree with Senator Flake that we should delay this week’s vote. There’s a lot of information we don’t know and the FBI should have the time it needs to investigate this new material. Staff calls aren’t the appropriate way to handle this.” (The Washington Post)
September 16: Supreme Court justices should not be an extension of the Republican Party. They must also have unquestionable character and integrity, and serious questions remain about Judge Kavanaugh in this regard, as indicated in information I referred to the FBI. For these and other reasons detailed below, I strongly oppose Judge Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court. (Los Angeles Times)
August 24: Given the possibility of criminal wrongdoing by the President, doubts that Judge Kavanaugh believes a president can even be investigated, and the unprecedented lack of transparency regarding this nominee's record, we should not move forward with hearings on September 4th. Instead, we should have a special meeting of the Committee to discuss a bipartisan, fair, and transparent process for moving forward. (Twitter)
August 16: As you know, in 2006, Judge Kavanaugh told the Committee under oath that he was “not aware of any issues” regarding “the legal justifications or the policies relating to the treatment of detainees”; was “not involved in the questions about the rules governing detention of combatants”; had nothing to do with issues related to rendition; and was unaware of, and saw no documents related to, the warrantless wiretapping program conducted without congressional authorization. However, at least two documents that are publicly available on the Bush Library website from Judge Kavanaugh’s time as Staff Secretary suggest that he was involved in issues related to torture and rendition after 9/11...In addition, documents that have been produced to the Committee as part of the partisan process that you have brokered with Bill Burck further undercut Judge Kavanaugh’s blanket assertions that he had no involvement in or knowledge of post-9/11 terrorism policies. These documents are currently being withheld from the public at your insistence, but they shed additional light on Judge Kavanaugh’s involvement in these matters and are needed to question him in a public hearing...Whether Judge Kavanaugh misled this Committee in 2006 and his involvement in these White House policies are critically important to our consideration of his fitness for a lifetime appointment to the highest court in the land. (senate.gov)
August 8: “While I remain hopeful the Archivist will reverse course and provide the documents we’ve requested, I’m joining this additional request for documents under the Freedom of Information Act because it may be the only way to get the records we need to fully vet Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination,” said Feinstein. “It’s unacceptable for the Senate to consider someone for the Supreme Court without reviewing that individual’s full record. If the Trump administration and Bush lawyers have access to all Kavanaugh documents, the Senate and the American people should as well.” (senate.gov)
July 14: This president has said he would appoint the person that would take down Roe [v. Wade] ... and I take him at his word...I can tell you this: That it is really key and critical that Democrats, including those in difficult states, get the support of our party so that they can do the right thing in this vote...We have five Democratic [senators up for reelection] from states that Donald Trump won [by large margins], and this makes this vote difficult for them. For me, it’s not difficult at all. But I’m the lead Democrat on the committee, and we will put together a kind of message, I hope, for the American people which will enable those Democrats to vote along with us. (Politico)
July 9: Brett Kavanaugh's views are far outside the mainstream when it comes to health care, executive power, privacy and gun safety. We need a nominee who understands that the court must protect the rights of all Americans, not just political interest groups and the powerful. #SCOTUS President Trump has been crystal clear about his litmus tests. He said that any #SCOTUS nominee would oppose gun safety laws and Roe v. Wade would be overturned ‘automatically.' #WhatsAtStake Brett Kavanaugh appears to meet all of President Trump’s political promises for how his candidate will rule. Kavanaugh’s record both on the bench and as a Republican operative indicate that he would be among the most conservative justices in Supreme Court history. #SCOTUS (Twitter)