Sen. Hatch Helps Prepare Kavanaugh For SCOTUS confirmation hearings
Sep 3, 2018, 7:51 PM | Updated: 7:51 pm
Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, meets with Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh on July 11, 2018.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Utah Senator Orrin Hatch led mock hearings—complete with role-playing protesters—to prepare Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh for this week’s confirmation hearing, according to the senator’s office.
The hearing gets underway Tuesday morning before the Senate Judiciary Committee. It’s expected to last three to four days.
During the prep sessions, Hatch, R-Utah, played the role of chairman while other senators stood in for other committee members to ask Kavanaugh questions focusing on the hardest topics they expect the nominee to be asked during the real hearing, according to Hatch’s deputy chief of staff Matt Whitlock.
“Senator Hatch participated at the request of Judge Kavanaugh and the White House,” Whitlock said, adding that Hatch also helped Kavanaugh ahead of his 2006 confirmation to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.
Hatch is the senior member of the judiciary committee and formerly served as chairman. During a speech last week on the Senate floor he spoke in support of Kavanaugh.
“He is as qualified and as ready to serve as any nominee I have seen to our nation’s highest court,” Hatch said. “I hope that next week, the over-the-top rhetoric and misrepresentations about Judge Kavanaugh will finally cease.”
Hatch also remarked that Kavanaugh’s hearing will mark his 15th and final time participating in a Supreme Court confirmation hearing.
Utah Republican Sen. Mike Lee is also a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
