Follow Day 2 of the Kavanaugh hearing here: Trump’s Supreme Court nominee faces Senate grilling 
 
 The confirmation hearings of Supreme Court nominee Brett M. Kavanaugh launched Tuesday as a bitter political brawl, with loud objections from Democratic senators, the arrests of dozens of protesters and questions even from some Republicans about how Kavanaugh would separate himself from President Trump, the man who chose him. 
 
 But GOP senators mostly calmly defended Kavanaugh from what Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) called the Shakespearean nature of the hearing — “sound and fury, signifying nothing” — confident that there were no defections from the solid Republican support Kavanaugh needs to be confirmed as the Supreme Court’s 114th justice. 
 
 The 53-year-old judge, who serves on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, sat impassively for nearly seven hours of senators’ statements before speaking for less than 20 minutes. Senators plan to begin questioning him Wednesday morning. 
 
 “The Supreme Court must never, never be viewed as a partisan institution,” Kavanaugh said. “The justices on the Supreme Court do not sit on opposite sides of an aisle. They do not caucus in separate rooms. If confirmed to the court, I would be part of a team of nine, committed to deciding cases according to the Constitution and laws of the United States. I would always strive to be a team player on the team of nine.” 
 
 No such conciliation was apparent on the Senate Judiciary Committee — or from the White House. 
 
 [The story behind the withheld documents of the Kavanaugh hearing] 
 
 “The Brett Kavanaugh hearings for the future Justice of the Supreme Court are truly a display of how mean, angry, and despicable the other side is,” Trump tweeted. “They will say anything, and are only looking to inflict pain and embarrassment to one of the most highly renowned jurists to ever appear before Congress. So sad to see!” 
 
 The chairman’s opening remarks were delayed for nearly an hour and a half as Democratic senators sought to cut off the hearings, raising an uproar over a last-minute document dump sent to the Judiciary Committee late Monday encompassing more than 42,000 pages from the nominee’s tenure in the George W. Bush White House. 
 
 Democrats questioned Kavanaugh’s judicial philosophy and even his honesty. Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.), who has said he feels he was misled by the judge at his previous confirmation hearing for the lower court, pointedly told Kavanaugh he would question him about that “when you are under oath.” 
 
 Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) referred to the Republican-appointed conservatives on the court headed by Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. as the “Roberts Five” and said the justices were always looking for ways to benefit the “big fundraisers and influencers of the Republican Party.” 
 
 Cruz said his Democratic colleagues were trying to re-litigate the results of the 2016 election. Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.), who noted that he had voted for President Barack Obama’s nominees Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan, was equally blunt. 
 
 “You had a chance and you lost,” Graham told Democrats. “You can’t lose the election and want to pick judges.” 
 
 [Hours before Kavanaugh hearings, Bush lawyer releases 42,000 pages of documents] 
 
 Barring any major last-minute surprises, Kavanaugh appears to be on track to be confirmed by the end of the month. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) said a committee vote is likely to occur Sept. 20. 
 
 That would allow Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) to tee up votes on the floor confirming Kavanaugh during the last week of September. The Supreme Court’s new term begins Oct. 1. 
 
 But Tuesday’s opening session indicated that the public fight over his nomination will be intense. 
 
 It was, Grassley said later, “a bad start.” Democratic senators repeatedly interrupted Grassley over the document issue, and by the end of the day more than 70 protesters had been arrested. Their theme: The Republicans are hiding something by withholding information. 
 
 “This is the most incomplete, most partisan, least transparent vetting for any Supreme Court nominee I have ever seen,” said Leahy. “And I have seen more of those than any person serving in the Senate today.” 
 
 Another focus was Trump himself, who has frequently leveled attacks against the judiciary and law enforcement. 
 
 Two Republican senators — Ben Sasse (Neb.) and Jeff Flake (Ariz.) — praised Kavanaugh personally and professionally, but raised questions about Trump’s attacks on the Justice Department and how Kavanaugh would handle cases involving presidential power. 
 
 In a tweet Monday, Trump criticized Attorney General Jeff Sessions for the recent indictments of two Republican members of Congress on corruption charges and for the timing, so close to the House midterm elections. 
 
 “That is why a lot of people are concerned about this administration and why they want to ensure that our institutions hold,” Flake said. He added that “many of the questions you will get on the other side of the aisle and from me” will center on separation of powers. 
 
 The protesters, who were predominantly women, repeatedly heckled the senators and Kavanaugh, arguing that installing Trump’s second pick to the Supreme Court would irreparably end access to abortion and dismantle the Affordable Care Act. 
 
 Democrats have charged that documents on Kavanaugh’s career have been withheld without justification, particularly those from his tenure as a Bush staffer. Senators have reviewed nearly 200,000 pages that cannot be disclosed to the public, and the Trump administration is withholding an additional 100,000 pages from Congress, claiming that those documents are covered by presidential privilege. 
 
 Kavanaugh, appointed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit by Bush, served the president in the White House Counsel’s Office from 2001 to 2003 and as staff secretary from 2003 to 2006. 
 
 Tuesday’s proceedings brought to the surface years of anger over judicial nominees. Democrats invoked the name of Merrick Garland, who was nominated by Obama in 2016 to fill the Supreme Court seat formerly held by the late justice Antonin Scalia and who was denied a hearing by Senate Republicans. 
 
 In his remarks, Kavanaugh praised Garland, the chief judge on the appeals court on which they both serve, as “superb” — a line likely to further rile Democrats. 
 
 Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn (R-Tex.) said the Democrats’ behavior would lead them to be “held in contempt of court,” prompting a chorus of quiet boos and “Oh come on” that echoed throughout the hearing room. He later said the hearing had turned into “mob rule.” 
 
 When it was his turn, Kavanaugh told senators that he would be “a neutral and impartial arbiter” if confirmed. 
 
 “I don’t decide cases based on personal or policy preferences,” Kavanaugh said. “I am not a pro-plaintiff or pro-defendant judge. I am not a pro-prosecution or pro-defense judge. I am a pro-law judge.” 
 
 Throughout his remarks, Kavanaugh noted his appreciation for the strides that women and girls have made professionally and in sports. Kavanaugh’s critics have said his elevation to the Supreme Court would be detrimental to women’s reproductive rights and health-care options, and his emphasis on the strong women in his life seemed designed to counter those concerns. 
 
 He talked about his record as a judge of hiring female law clerks and at length about coaching his daughters’ basketball teams, listing by name each player and noting the real-world impact of Title IX. 
 
 “I see that law’s legacy every night when I walk into my house as my daughters are getting back from lacrosse, or basketball, or hockey practice,” he said. 
 
 In a preview of the tough questions Kavanaugh will face Wednesday, Democratic senators said they would press the judge on his views about abortion, gun control and executive power. 
 
 Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) addressed Kavanaugh about abortion. The question, she said, is not whether he believes that the landmark Roe v. Wade decision is “settled law,” as he has told other senators, but “whether you believe it is the correct law.” 
 
 Sen. Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.) said he would resurrect a controversy from Kavanaugh’s 2006 confirmation battle over whether he was involved in developing Bush-era policy on the treatment of terrorism suspects. Kavanaugh worked as a White House associate counsel at the time that Bush developed his policy, laid out in what became known as the “torture memo.” 
 
 As a nominee for the D.C. Circuit, Kavanaugh testified that he was “not involved.” 
 
 Later, Kavanaugh’s denial came into question when The Washington Post revealed that he had participated in a White House Counsel’s Office meeting in which he was asked his opinion about how Kennedy — for whom he had clerked — was likely to view the matter. 
 
 In response, Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) defended Kavanaugh and said the suggestion that the judge had “misled this committee in any way is absurd.” ||||| poster="http://v.politico.com/images/1155968404/201809/3444/1155968404_5830669495001_5830646952001-vs.jpg?pubId=1155968404" true Democrats create chaos at Kavanaugh hearing Chuck Schumer helped coordinate the Democrats' strategy, but Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley refused to hold a vote on adjournment. 
 
 Democrats sought to take control of Brett Kavanaugh's Supreme Court confirmation hearing Tuesday, mounting a failed bid to delay President Donald Trump's nominee and interrupting Republicans dozens of times as multiple activists on the left disrupted the proceedings. 
 
 The volley of Democratic interjections began after Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) attempted to open the high-stakes four-day hearing. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) helped coordinate that strategy despite not serving on the Judiciary panel, convening a call with the committee's minority members over the weekend, according to a source familiar with the planning. 
 
 Story Continued Below 
 
 Grassley, attempting to speak over Democrats as they sought a vote on a motion to adjourn the hearing, acknowledged that "maybe it’s not going exactly the way that the minority would like to have it go." One after another, Democrats repeatedly interrupted Grassley in the opening minutes, breaking into their protests to allow Kavanaugh to speak before resuming their push to stop the process until they can examine more records. 
 
 But the display of disruption, galvanizing as it was to Kavanaugh’s liberal critics, ultimately did little but delay a day of partisan jockeying that closed, more than seven hours later, with the nominee telling senators that “I do not decide cases based on personal or policy preferences.” 
 
 Grassley said at the end of the hearing that he’s preparing to schedule a committee vote on Kavanaugh for Sept. 13, paving the way for a final floor vote on confirmation before the new Supreme Court term opens next month. Democrats are expected to exercise their procedural right to delay that by a week, at a minimum. 
 
 Senators got more than 42,000 pages of documents late Monday night on a "committee confidential" basis, a designation that prevents their public release and likely stops Democrats from citing them during the hearing. Even before that latest release, however, Democrats already had begun discussing the protest they would mount Tuesday. 
 
 The move appeared to get under the skin of some in the GOP. After repeated interruptions from anti-Kavanaugh demonstrators who were escorted from the hearing room by police, Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn (R-Texas) suggested that Democrats would be held in "contempt of court" — drawing quick pushback from Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) — and likened the moment to “mob rule.” 
 
 Grassley flatly ruled out Democrats’ repeated calls for an adjournment vote, but the fireworks at the start of the hearing already had set the tone for a raucous week to come. The White House sent a tally of the number of times each Democrat had interrupted Grassley during the first hour of the hearing, for a total of 44 interjections. 
 
 Kavanaugh is expected to ultimately be confirmed, with the Senate headed toward a return to 51-49 GOP control following the selection Tuesday of former Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) — who guided Trump’s nominee through the confirmation gantlet — to replace the late Sen. John McCain. But Democratic senators are still readying an intense volley of questions for the 53-year-old appeals court judge, focusing on his stance toward an ongoing challenge to Obamacare, the future of Roe v. Wade and his already-expressed skepticism about criminal investigations of sitting presidents. 
 
 Democrats have offered few indications that they're prepared to attempt a formal boycott of the Judiciary hearing to channel their ire over the withholding of hundreds of thousands of pages of Kavanaugh-related documents from public release. 
 
 "We will attend the meetings. We will question assiduously. But we want to express our concerns,” the panel’s top Democrat, Dianne Feinstein of California, told reporters alongside her fellow minority-party members at a gathering on the Supreme Court steps early Tuesday. 
 
 Republicans have touted the release of more than 290,000 pages of records from Kavanaugh's time in George W. Bush's White House counsel's office, noting that the volume of public disclosure has dwarfed that for previous Supreme Court picks. But Democrats have been infuriated by the GOP’s omission of any document requests governing Kavanaugh’s time as staff secretary to then-President Bush, tension that was stoked last week when the Trump administration cited executive privilege to shield more than 100,000 pages of records, angering the minority. 
 
 After Democrats’ interruptions cooled, Kavanaugh focused his opening statement on his family and friends as well as the support he’s provided to others as a constitutional law professor and volunteer. The judge, who also played a prominent role in drafting the Starr Report on former President Bill Clinton, described himself as “especially grateful to the dean who first hired me” at Harvard Law School — Democratic-tapped Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan. 
 
 Trump’s nominee described himself as a player on the high court's “Team of Nine” and a “neutral and impartial arbiter,” if he wins confirmation in the coming weeks. 
 
 Liberal activists mounted their own show of force against Kavanaugh throughout Tuesday, the first of four days that are expected to stretch to marathon length. Women dressed in the red-and-white garb made famous by the dystopian novel "The Handmaid's Tale" gathered outside the hearing room, demonstrating against Kavanaugh's potential to rule against abortion rights. 
 
 Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) was among several committee members in both parties acknowledging the difficulty of speaking over the demonstrators, saying that “we ought to have this loudmouth removed” after a woman cried out about protecting pre-existing conditions. 
 
 Capitol Police charged 61 protesters with disorderly conduct, a spokeswoman said. An additional nine were charged with obstruction or "crowding." 
 
 Kavanaugh notably name-checked Merrick Garland, former President Barack Obama's pick for the Supreme Court who was stonewalled by Republican senators ahead of the 2016 election. Garland is currently a colleague of Kavanaugh's on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. 
 
 "I have served with 17 other judges, each of them a colleague and a friend, on a court now led by our superb chief judge, Merrick Garland," Kavanaugh said. That gesture was bound to fall on deaf ears with Democrats who view the entire confirmation process as unnecessarily hurried to get Trump a second seat on the high court in two years. 
 
 “When Justice [Antonin] Scalia died, Republicans refused to even meet — even a meeting in their office — with President Obama’s nominee and held the seat open for one year,” Feinstein said in her opening statement. “Now, with a Republican in the White House, they’ve changed their position.” 
 
 While Democrats recognize their limited power to stop Kavanaugh's nomination, they're still using the confirmation process to score political points, especially given the stakes. Kavanaugh would likely bend the court significantly to the right, given that he's replacing retired justice Anthony Kennedy, who long served as a swing vote. ||||| Follow Friday’s updates on the Kavanaugh hearing here: John Dean to warn of a ‘pro-presidential powers’ Supreme Court 
 
 Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh is appearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday as senators continue publicly interviewing President Trump’s nominee for the Supreme Court. 
 
 Kavanaugh, a member of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, has a good chance of being confirmed when the Senate votes later this month. Under questioning from senators, he has so far touched on Roe v. Wade, said courts — not the president — are “the final word” and, as the hearing began, watched drama unfold regarding Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.)’s pledge to release confidential documents. 
 
 Key moments from the hearing: 
 
 • Drama over confidential emails....that were already cleared for public release 
 
 • Kavanaugh advised against calling Roe “settled law” 
 
 • Kavanaugh elaborates on dissent on contraception and religious objections 
 
 • Emails show more involvement with nominee than Kavanaugh previously suggested 
 
 10:13 p.m.: Hearing adjourned 
 
 More than 12 hours after the questioning began Thursday morning, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) adjourned the confirmation hearing for the day. Grassley closed the session by praising Kavanaugh for his “compelling and credible” answers, highlighted his history on the bench and said that “unquestionably, you’re qualified to serve on the Supreme Court of the United States.” 
 
 “I hope a lot of people in this country have formed very positive views of you, as I have,” Grassley said. 
 
 Kavanaugh spent nearly 24 hours over two days answering questions, with many of the discussions on Thursday centering in some way or another on President Trump, who nominated Kavanaugh to the high court. Members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, including some Republicans, pressed Kavanaugh about his expansive views of presidential power and past writings that concluded civil suits and criminal investigations of presidents would be better delayed until the chief executive left office. Read more about Thursday’s hearing here. 
 
 Friday is the fourth and final scheduled day of Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearing, which will feature comments from witnesses. 
 
 — Mark Berman 
 
 8:55 p.m.: Behind the dramatic release of once-concealed documents 
 
 The dramatic release Thursday of once-concealed documents from Supreme Court nominee Brett M. Kavanaugh’s tenure in the George W. Bush White House spotlighted the simmering frustrations from Democrats over how Republicans have kept secret vast parts of Kavanaugh’s voluminous paper trail. 
 
 Tens of thousands of pages from Kavanaugh’s records have been hidden from public view, only available to senators and certain congressional aides in advance of Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearings this week. 
 
 On Thursday, a small sample of the “committee confidential” documents were disclosed after Democratic senators asked that they be approved for public release, raising questions about why the documents had been considered confidential in the first place. 
 
 Read more here. 
 
 7:30 p.m.: Pressed on gay rights, Kavanaugh declines to say same-sex marriage ruling was correctly decided 
 
 Sen. Kamala D. Harris (D-Calif.) pressed Kavanaugh for the first time Thursday night about gay rights. The judge refused to answer whether the high court’s ruling declaring a constitutional right for same-sex couples to marry was correctly decided. 
 
 Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, the man Kavanaugh would replace on the bench, cast the deciding vote in the case, Obergefell v. Hodges. 
 
 Kavanaugh instead read aloud from another Kennedy ruling this year involving gay rights in which the justice wrote that gay people “cannot be treated as social outcasts or as inferior in dignity and worth.” 
 
 Harris noted that Kavanaugh earlier this week characterized the landmark decision declaring segregated schools unconstitutional as a great moment in history, and asked whether the high court’s decision legalizing gay marriage was a similar moment. 
 
 The judge said only that it was precedent. 
 
 The White House sent out information on Kavanaugh’s record on gay rights soon after the exchange, noting that Kavanaugh has not had a major case involving gay rights in his 12 years on the D.C. Circuit. 
 
 “Kavanaugh rules fairly and impartially based on the law, not the identity of the parties before him, and he has a record of faithfully applying legal protections for racial minorities, women, and other protected groups,”the White House statement said. 
 
 — Ann E. Marimow 
 
 7:11 p.m.: Kavanaugh, pressed again, said he has not discussed the Mueller probe 
 
 Sen. Kamala D. Harris (D-Calif.), who late Wednesday asked Kavanaugh if he had discussed special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election with attorneys at the law firm founded by President Trump’s personal lawyer, Marc Kasowitz, questioned him again Thursday. 
 
 Picking up a line of inquiry that her colleagues, including Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), had followed during the day, Harris peppered him with follow-up questions. Noting that he had denied having “inappropriate” conversations about it, Harris asking Kavanaugh if he had discussions regarding the special counsel’s probe and whether he had discussed it with anyone at Kasowitz’s firm, saying she had unspecified “reliable information” he had done the latter. (The firm denied this earlier in the day). 
 
 Kavanaugh asked Harris if she was asking whether he spoke to anyone specific about it, but she said that was not the question. 
 
 “That is not the subject of the question, sir,” she said. “The subject of the question is you and whether you were part of a conversation regarding special counsel Mueller’s investigation.” 
 
 Kavanaugh, nearly a day after their exchange late Wednesday, responded: “The answer’s no.” 
 
 Harris replied by thanking him and saying “it would have been great if you could’ve said that last night,” prompting Kavanaugh to begin a reply before cutting him off. 
 
 “Let’s move on,” Harris said. 
 
 The end of the exchange prompted a rare reaction from White House counsel Donald McGahn, who has largely kept his poker face during the hearings while seated behind Kavanaugh in clear view of the cameras. After Harris’s remark about moving on, McGahn gave a slight shake of his head and briefly arched his eyebrows. 
 
 — Mark Berman 
 
 6:52 p.m.: Booker asks why Kavanaugh won’t recuse himself from the Mueller probe 
 
 Hours after Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) took center stage with drama over some of the documents the committee had, he had a chance to speak to Kavanaugh, pressing the judge on a variation of a question he had been asked previously during the hearings: Why not recuse himself from any court matters that would involve the ongoing special counsel probe because, as Booker said, “it’s really important that the Supreme Court be above suspicion”? 
 
 Kavanaugh responded by saying doing so would mean showing he did not have judicial independence. 
 
 “All I would be doing is demonstrating that I don’t have the independence of the judiciary … that is necessary to be a good judge,” Kavanaugh responded. “All of the nominees who’ve gone before have declined to commit because that would be inconsistent with judicial independence.” 
 
 — Seung Min Kim 
 
 5:50 p.m.: Hearing pauses for dinner 
 
 The hearing was halted until 6:15 p.m. for a dinner break. After that, four senators will get their turns to question Kavanaugh before the committee opens up a new round of questioning. 
 
 5:15 p.m.: Kavanaugh declines to condemn Trump’s attacks on judiciary 
 
 Kavanaugh refused to repudiate what Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) described as President Trump’s “blatant, craven and repeated attacks” on the federal judiciary. 
 
 Blumenthal was referring to Trump’s criticism that Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg “has embarrassed us all” and “her mind is shot.” Ginsburg had been critical of Trump, prompting him to make the comments on Twitter during the 2016 presidential campaign. 
 
 Kavanaugh took a pass, saying he did not want to “get within three Zip codes” of such a political controversy. 
 
 Blumemthal noted that the president’s first Supreme Court pick, Justice Neil M. Gorsuch, explicitly condemned Trump’s attacks as “disheartening” and “demoralizing.” Gorsuch spoke generally, but his comments came after the president had criticized the ethnic background of Judge Gonzalo Curiel, who ruled against the administration’s travel ban. 
 
 Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) followed up, suggesting that the judge was resisting any criticism of President Trump. 
 
 Kavanaugh disagreed. As a judge, he said, “We stay out of politics, we don’t comment on comments made by politicians.” 
 
 — Ann E. Marimow 
 
 5:08 p.m.: Blumenthal presses Kavanaugh on Mueller probe 
 
 The ongoing special counsel investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election took center stage at the hearing again Thursday afternoon — this time, in a line of questioning from Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.). 
 
 Following questions on Wednesday night and again Thursday morning, Kavanaugh was again pressed about special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s probe, which could eventually make its way before a Supreme Court featuring Kavanaugh as a member. 
 
 Blumenthal asked Kavanaugh if he had ever discussed the investigation with anyone, and Kavanaugh echoed his earlier remark in saying: “I’ve had no inappropriate discussions with anyone.” 
 
 Blumenthal followed that by asking if the judge had ever discussed the investigation with anyone, whether appropriately or inappropriately. Kavanaugh acknowledged that it had come up — “If you’re walking around in America it’s coming up, senator” — but he also repeatedly emphasized that he never crossed any lines in discussing it. 
 
 “I’ve never suggested anything about my views about anything, commitments, foreshadowing, I’ve had no inappropriate discussions,” he said. 
 
 Blumenthal then pivoted to asking if Kavanaugh had discussed it with anyone in the White House, including Donald McGahn, the White House counsel seated behind Kavanaugh during the hearings. When Blumenthal asked Kavanaugh if he had discussed the probe with McGahn or anyone else in the White House, calling it a yes or no question, Kavanaugh said: “I’m not remembering any discussions like that.” 
 
 He added, though, that during his preparations for the confirmation hearings, he had readied for queries like the ones Blumenthal had posed. The questioning grew mildly tense, with Blumenthal suggesting that Kavanaugh’s answers were ambiguous, which the judge disputed. 
 
 After Blumenthal finished his questioning, Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) broke in to ask Kavanaugh if he had ever suggested to anyone how he would rule on any matter related to the Mueller probe, and the judge answered: “No, I have not.” 
 
 Blumenthal followed up his questions about the probe by asking whether Kavanaugh had discussed the inquiry with anyone at the law firm founded by President Trump’s personal lawyer, Marc Kasowitz. 
 
 Earlier on Thursday, the firm Kasowitz Benson Torres said in a statement that “no discussions” regarding the probe had occurred “between Judge Kavanaugh and anyone at our firm.” 
 
 When asked by Blumenthal, Kavanaugh echoed his earlier comments that he did not remember any discussions with anyone at the firm about the probe. When asked if he knew Kasowitz, Kavanaugh said no. 
 
 When asked if he knew anyone at the firm, Kavanaugh said yes, naming Ed McNally, who used to work at the White House counsel’s office and is now at the firm. Kavanaugh said he had not discussed the special counsel’s probe with McNally. 
 
 — Mark Berman 
 
 3:35 p.m.: Kavanaugh tries to clarify involvement in judge’s confirmation 
 
 Kavanaugh on Thursday discussed his involvement in the confirmation of now-Judge William H. Pryor Jr. to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit — clarifying his testimony from 2004 when he said he hadn’t handled that nomination when he served as an associate White House counsel. 
 
 The nominee’s comments came after the new disclosure of emails earlier Thursday that detailed what appeared to be Kavanaugh’s involvement in Pryor’s confirmation fight, including conference calls to coordinate strategy and meetings to discuss plans for the nominee’s hearings. 
 
 Kavanaugh explained Thursday that in the George W. Bush White House counsel’s office, one person would be assigned to handle the confirmation of each judicial nominee. “As I recall at least, I was not the primary person on that,” Kavanaugh said, referring to Pryor’s nomination. 
 
 While Kavanaugh said he didn’t recall specifics of his involvement, some examples he cited were attendance at meetings and mock hearing sessions. 
 
 In 2004, during his confirmation hearing for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, Kavanaugh said several times under questioning by then-Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) that he had not been involved with Pryor’s confirmation. 
 
 “I am familiar generally with Mr. Pryor, but that was not one that I worked on personally,” Kavanaugh testified then, although he noted during the hearing that he knew Pryor. Upon further questioning, Kavanaugh said: “I was not involved in handling his nomination.” 
 
 Kavanaugh, with the help of Grassley, clarified another one of the emails involving Pryor. On Dec. 16, 2002, Kavanaugh received an email from another White House aide with the subject line “CA11” — a reference to the 11th Circuit. The aide, Kyle Sampson, asked: “How did the Pryor interview go?” Kavanaugh then responded: “Call me.” 
 
 Grassley, noting that Democrats attempted to “insinuate that you interviewed Judge Pryor,” asked Kavanaugh: It’s “more likely to indicate that you know the people who interviewed Judge Pryor?” 
 
 Kavanaugh responded: “That sounds correct.” 
 
 — Seung Min Kim 
 
 2:56 p.m.: Kavanaugh elaborates on dissent on contraception and religious objections 
 
 Advocates for reproductive rights are concerned about the contraceptive-coverage requirement in the Affordable Care Act, widely known as Obamacare. In a 2015 case, Kavanaugh dissented from his colleagues and sided with the group Priests for Life, which argued that a provision in the law to opt out for religious objections was too burdensome. 
 
 Kavanaugh elaborated Thursday on the basis for his dissent, telling Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) that “the government had ways to ensure contraceptive coverage without doing so on the backs of religious objectors.” 
 
 The issue remains in court after the Trump administration issued new rules making it easier for employers to refuse to provide coverage for birth control on the basis of religious objections. 
 
 Cruz also asked the judge about a case on which he worked as a lawyer in private practice in which he backed a high school’s decision to allow student-led prayers over the public address system at football games. He argued that students were delivering their own messages, not speaking on behalf of the school. The Supreme Court disagreed, finding the policy unconstitutional. 
 
 “Religious people, speakers and speech are entitled to equal treatment,” Kavanaugh said Thursday. 
 
 — Ann E. Marimow 
 
 2:41 p.m.: Kasowitz firm denies discussing special counsel probe with Kavanaugh 
 
 In one of the most widely noticed parts of the hearings, Kavanaugh was questioned late Wednesday by Sen. Kamala D. Harris (D-Calif.) about whether he had discussed special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election with attorneys at the law firm founded by President Trump’s personal lawyer, Marc Kasowitz. 
 
 On Thursday, Kavanaugh was asked again about this by Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah), who gave the judge an opportunity to clarify his responses to Harris. Kavanaugh said he did not “recall any conversations of that kind,” adding that he was not familiar with the names of all of the attorneys from the firm Kasowitz Benson Torres. 
 
 Kavanaugh said he had not had any “inappropriate conversations” or commented on his views about the legal aspects of the probe, elements of which could potentially make it to the Supreme Court. 
 
 On Thursday, the Kasowitz firm also said that no one there had discussed the probe with Kavanaugh. 
 
 “There have been no discussions regarding Robert Mueller’s investigation between Judge Kavanaugh and anyone at our firm,” the law firm said in a statement. 
 
 — Mark Berman 
 
 1:57 p.m.: Hearings resume after lunch break 
 
 After pausing for lunch, the hearings are getting back underway. The first hours brought an extended drama over documents as well as questions about abortion, executive power and the special counsel’s probe, with extensive questioning still expected for the remainder of the day. 
 
 1:38 p.m.: The drama over ‘confidential’ emails — which were already cleared for public release 
 
 Democrats mounted dramatic protests Thursday over documents related to Supreme Court nominee Brett M. Kavanaugh’s tenure in the George W. Bush White House, as senators began releasing his emails that had been withheld from the public. 
 
 The records that Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) posted on their websites Thursday morning had, in fact, already been cleared for public release, according to Democratic and Republican aides on the Senate Judiciary Committee. Those documents were cleared earlier Thursday morning, according to spokesmen for both sides. 
 
 Nevertheless, the drama over the emails once marked “committee confidential” engulfed much of the third day of Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearings, with Booker vowing to disclose them in defiance of Senate rules. 
 
 “I openly invite and accept the consequences of releasing that email right now,” Booker said. “The emails are being withheld from the public have nothing to do with national security.” 
 
 Bill Burck, Bush’s presidential records representative, said later Thursday, “We cleared the documents last night shortly after Senator Booker’s staff asked us to. We were surprised to learn about Senator Booker’s histrionics this morning because we had already told him he could use the documents publicly. In fact, we have said yes to every request made by the Senate Democrats to make documents public.” 
 
 Such theatrics have characterized Kavanaugh’s hearings, in which Democrats have repeatedly complained that Republicans have withheld documents from the committee and the public that shed important light on Kavanaugh’s past. 
 
 The documents that took center stage on Thursday were labeled “committee confidential” — available for any senators to view but shielded from the public. 
 
 Late Wednesday, a handful of Democratic senators sent Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) several requests to make emails once marked “committee confidential” available to the public so they could discuss them during the public hearing on Thursday. Those records are being cleared as the Justice Department reviews them, as well as representatives for Bush. 
 
 Booker may have violated Senate rules late Wednesday, when he spoke about the content of emails that technically were still under “committee confidential” status at that point. 
 
 “You’ve also written that an effort designed to benefit minority-owned businesses, an effort to try to give them a fair shake because they had been historically excluded — and these are your words now — used a lot of legalisms and disguises to mask what is, in reality, a naked racial set-aside. That’s what you said. That’s how you referred to it,” Booker said, referring to one of the emails from Kavanaugh. 
 
 Later in his questioning, Booker referred again to the committee confidential emails: “I have letters here, sir, that have asked for — now, the one email specifically entitled racial profiling that somehow — I mean, literally the email was entitled racial profiling, that somehow was designated as something that the public couldn’t see. This wasn’t — this wasn’t personal information.” 
 
 Releasing “committee confidential” information violates Senate rules and could result in expulsion from the Senate. But whether the Senate actually pursues the violation is a separate question. 
 
 — Seung Min Kim 
 
 1:17 p.m.: Hearing pauses for lunch 
 
 Grassley paused the hearing for a lunch break, which he said would take 30 minutes but potentially longer, noting that senators have two votes scheduled this afternoon. 
 
 1:10 p.m.: Court orders, not the president, are “the final word,” Kavanaugh says 
 
 Senate Democrats raised concerns Thursday about the president’s attacks this week on the Justice Department and Kavanaugh’s broad view of executive power expressed in his legal opinions and speeches. In a tweet on Monday, Trump criticized Attorney General Jeff Sessions for the recent indictments of two Republican congressmen, the latest in a string of criticisms the president has levied against both Sessions and the department he leads. 
 
 “In this age of President Donald Trump, this expansive view of presidential power takes on added significance,” said Sen. Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.). 
 
 Kavanaugh emphasized the importance of the separation of powers and an independent judiciary as a backstop. 
 
 “I’ve made clear in my writings that a court order that requires a president to do something or prohibits president from doing something is the final word in our system,” Kavanaugh said. 
 
 — Ann E. Marimow 
 
 12:32 p.m.: Hearing resumes 
 
 After a 15-minute break that lasted for about 25 minutes, Kavanaugh has taken his seat again to answer questions. 
 
 12 p.m.: Read Kavanaugh’s email on Roe v. Wade 
 
 In an email Kavanaugh wrote in 2003 that was made public Thursday, he argued against calling the decision “settled law of the land.” 
 
 In his email, Kavanaugh wrote that he was “not sure that all legal scholars refer to Roe” that way, noting that the Supreme Court “can always overrule its precedent.” 
 
 When asked about the email by Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) on Thursday, Kavanaugh said he was not expressing his own views, but rather those of “legal scholars.” 
 
 Read his email here. And head here for more on what else he has said on the issue. 
 
 — Mark Berman 
 
 11:27 a.m.: Kavanaugh denies any “inappropriate conversations” about special counsel probe 
 
 Late Wednesday night, Sen. Kamala D. Harris (D-Calif.) questioned Kavanaugh about whether he had discussed the special counsel investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election with attorneys at the law firm founded by President Trump’s personal lawyer Marc Kasowitz. 
 
 The exchange drew intense scrutiny online, and on Thursday, Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah) gave Kavanaugh an opportunity to clarify his responses to Harris, who did not disclose with whom she suspected the judge may have had such conversations. 
 
 “I don’t recall any conversations of that kind,” Kavanaugh told Hatch, adding that he was not familiar with the names of all of the attorneys from the firm Kasowitz Benson Torres. 
 
 Kavanaugh stressed that he had not had any “inappropriate conversations” or commented on his views about the legal aspects of special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s investigation that could make their way to the Supreme Court. 
 
 “No hints, forecasts, previews, winks — nothing about my view as a judge or how I would rule on that or anything related to that,” Kavanaugh said. 
 
 — Ann E. Marimow 
 
 11:20 a.m.: Emails show more involvement with controversial judicial nominee than Kavanaugh previously suggested 
 
 Kavanaugh testified in 2004 that he did not “personally” handle the nomination of a controversial George W. Bush judicial candidate: Judge William Pryor, who now sits on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit. But emails made newly public early Thursday show more involvement than he appeared to indicate in his 2004 testimony. 
 
 On Dec. 16, 2002, Kavanaugh received an email, reviewed by The Washington Post, from another White House aide with the subject line “CA11” — a reference to the 11th Circuit. The aide, Kyle Sampson, asked: “How did the Pryor interview go?” Kavanaugh then responded: “Call me.” 
 
 Another email from June 5, 2003 reviewed by The Post showed Kavanaugh on an email chain with a handful of other officials, alerting them to a 4 p.m. conference call to “discuss Pryor and coordinate plans and efforts.” A separate email earlier that day, on which Kavanaugh was blind carbon copied, discussed a meeting that would be held the following day to “discuss nominee Bill Pryor’s hearing” the following week. 
 
 Kavanaugh was nominated by Bush on April 9, 2003, and his confirmation hearing was held June 11, 2003. He was confirmed in 2005. 
 
 In 2004 during his confirmation hearing for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, Kavanaugh said several times under questioning by then-Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) that he had not been involved with Pryor’s confirmation. 
 
 “I am familiar generally with Mr. Pryor, but that was not one that I worked on personally,” Kavanaugh testified then. Upon further questioning, Kavanaugh said “I was not involved in handling his nomination.” 
 
 Pryor drew controversy because he had called Roe v. Wade “the worst abomination of constitutional law in our history.” As attorney general of Alabama, he had filed an amicus brief in a key Supreme Court case on gay rights, Lawrence v. Texas, that struck down state sodomy laws. Pryor wrote that states should “remain free to protect the moral standards of their communities through legislation that prohibits homosexual sodomy.” 
 
 Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), one of the swing votes on Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court, voted against Pryor’s confirmation in 2005. 
 
 White House spokesman Raj Shah did not immediately return a request for comment on the newly disclosed Pryor emails. 
 
 A spokesman for the Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa), said some previously “committee confidential” documents are being made public as they are cleared by the Justice Department. Other records that have been requested to be made public are still being reviewed by DOJ and representatives for Bush. 
 
 — Seung Min Kim 
 
 11:01 a.m.: Kavanaugh advised against calling Roe “settled law,” email shows 
 
 While he was a White House lawyer in the Bush administration, Kavanaugh advised against referring to the Supreme Court’s decision in Roe v. Wade as the “settled law of the land,” according to a 2003 email made public Thursday. 
 
 “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 after reviewing a draft of what was intended to be an op-ed in favor of a judicial nominee. 
 
 Kavanaugh addressed the decision on Wednesday, refusing to say whether he believed that Roe v. Wade, the decision that guaranteed a woman’s right to an abortion, was correctly decided. He also said the Supreme Court had affirmed it in subsequent cases. 
 
 On Thursday, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) read aloud from Kavanaugh’s newly released email and said it has “been viewed as you saying you don’t think Roe is settled” and asked him to explain. 
 
 Kavanaugh said he was referring not to his own views, but to the “views of legal scholars.” 
 
 Read more here. 
 
 — Mark Berman 
 
 10:45 a.m.: On cameras in the court, Kavanaugh said he is open to hearing from other justices 
 
 Kavanaugh was asked about a common question regarding the court: Cameras or no cameras? 
 
 The Supreme Court itself operates in a relatively anachronistic format, blocking cameras — and most other forms of technology — when cases are argued and announced. The question of whether it should remain that way has been raised over the years, including to nominees who went on to join the court. During Justice Neil M. Gorsuch’s confirmation hearings last year, he said he was open to hearing more about the issue. 
 
 Kavanaugh also said he was open to learning more, including from the justices already on the court to hear “what they think about this.” 
 
 “To learn, if I were to be confirmed, from the experience there and to see what the experience there is like,” he said. “To listen to the justices currently on the Supreme Court.” 
 
 — Mark Berman 
 
 10:38 a.m.: Questioning begins and is promptly interrupted by protesters 
 
 An hour after the hearing got underway, Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa), the committee chairman, began his questioning of Kavanaugh, who had not spoken while senators debated what to do with confidential documents. 
 
 A protester shouting about health care and chanting “SHAME” was taken outside by police as Grassley began. Then, as Kavanaugh began to speak, a male protester quickly interrupted, standing on a chair and shouting, “Save Democracy, save Roe!” as he was hauled out of the committee room by the Capitol Police. 
 
 10:30 a.m.: Senate Democrats in open revolt over confidential Kavanaugh documents 
 
 After Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) said he was willing to violate Senate rules and release confidential documents, Senate Democrats on the committee appeared in open revolt as Sen. John Cornyn (R-Tex.) read aloud from the rules on expulsion. Raj Shah, a White House spokesman, also tweeted the rules on Thursday morning. 
 
 Cornyn read aloud from rules stating that a senator who discloses “the secret or confidential business” of the Senate could be “liable ... to suffer expulsion.” 
 
 Booker responded by saying: “Bring the charges.” His comment was echoed by Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), who said: “Apply the rule, bring the charges. All of us are ready to face that rule.” 
 
 “This is about the closest I’ll ever have in my life to an ‘I am Spartacus’ moment,” Booker said. 
 
 Sen. Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.) also joined in, saying: “If there’s going to be some retribution against the senator from New Jersey, count me in.” 
 
 Their comments were echoed by Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), who tweeted during the debate: “I stand w/ Judiciary Committee Democrats who are well within their rights to release these very important documents that a former Kavanaugh deputy designed as ‘committee confidential.’ The American ppl deserve to know the truth about Judge Kavanaugh’s record. #WhatAreTheyHiding?” 
 
 — Ann E. Marimow 
 
 10 a.m.: Booker says he is willing to violate Senate rules to release confidential documents 
 
 The fight over access to Kavanaugh’s records from his time in the Bush White House intensified in the opening moments of the hearing Thursday morning. Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) said he is prepared to violate Senate rules and release confidential committee documents — and to risk the consequences. 
 
 Booker had questioned Kavanaugh Wednesday night about his use of the term “naked racial set-aside” and said he would make public documents backing up that assertion. 
 
 “I openly invite and accept the consequences of releasing that email right now,” Booker said. “The emails being withheld from the public have nothing to do with national security.” 
 
 Under the committee’s rules, Booker could be expelled from the Senate for releasing such records. 
 
 Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn (R-Tex.) angrily responded to Booker and referred to his potential aspirations for higher office, saying “running for president is no excuse for violating the rules of the Senate.” Cornyn argued that “this is no different from the senator deciding to release classified information that is deemed classified.” 
 
 9:34 a.m.: Hearing gets underway 
 
 Nearly 12 hours after the first day of questioning wrapped up, Kavanaugh is back before the Senate Judiciary Committee for more questioning. Kavanaugh took his seat at 9:33 a.m., sitting alone at the witness table with a stack of papers to his left and three small water bottles to his right. 
 
 Before the hearing began, the committee’s Republican members were seen gathered around committee Chairman Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) while he spoke before they took their seats. 
 
 Grassley gaveled in the hearing at 9:34 a.m. 
 
 — Mark Berman 
 
 8 a.m.: What to watch for in today’s hearing 
 
 The third day of hearings will see Kavanaugh facing more questioning from senators. Among other things to expect and watch for: 
 
 • The battle over access to records from Kavanaugh’s tenure in the Bush White House is sure to resurface, with Democrats asking the committee to release additional documents that have not been disclosed to the public. 
 
 Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.) implied Wednesday that there is evidence in confidential Senate Judiciary Committee records that Kavanaugh in 2003 was privy to an email allegedly stolen by a former committee staffer. Kavanaugh said he never knowingly dealt with stolen records. Chairman Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) did not guarantee that those documents would become public this week, but said, “we’ll try to get them.” 
 
 • More questions are likely about Kavanaugh’s views on a host of pivotal issues, including guns, abortion, executive power, health care, affirmative action and more, as well as about his experiences on the bench and in the Bush White House. 
 
 • Health care and the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act will continue to be a potent issue, particularly as a legal challenge to the law unfolds in a courtroom in Texas this week. The nominee says he can’t assure senators that he would uphold the law’s requirement that insurers cover people with preexisting conditions because doing so would compromise his judicial independence. Democrats say they will revisit the issue. 
 
 • Loud, angry protests are likely to continue to punctuate the Senate debate about Kavanaugh’s legal theory and judicial opinions. A phalanx of Capitol Police officers, dressed in dark blue and some with zip ties, have been a fixture against the back wall of the hearing room, poised to quietly haul out protesters. Capitol Police on Wednesday arrested and charged another 66 people with disorderly conduct for disrupting the hearings. 
 
 • In one of the most confusing — and tense — exchanges Wednesday, Sen. Kamala D. Harris (D-Calif.) raised the prospect without offering evidence that Kavanaugh may have spoken about the Mueller investigation with somebody at Kasowitz, Benson and Torres, a law firm that has represented Trump. It’s unclear whether Harris will revisit the issue again Thursday, but the exchange went viral and quickly became one of the most talked-about moments of the Kavanaugh hearings. 
 
 
 
 Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh appears during a confirmation hearing at the Hart Senate Office Building on Wednesday in Washington. (Matt McClain/The Washington Post) 
 
 Read more coverage: 
 
 Read Day One and Day Two of the Kavanaugh hearing 
 
 The Fix: 5 takeaways from the Brett Kavanaugh hearings so far 
 
 The Daily 202: Kavanaugh hearing offers an ‘unprecedented’ display of the Senate’s institutional decline 
 
 Read more at PowerPost ||||| The start of Tuesday’s Senate confirmation hearing for Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh erupted in chaos as Democrats demanded an adjournment and protesters interrupted with repeated shouts and were dragged out by police. 
 
 As Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) began his opening statements, Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) interrupted to ask that the hearing be postponed so senators could review 42,000 pages of documents about Kavanaugh’s time in the George W. Bush White House that were dumped late Monday. 
 
 “We cannot possibly move forward, Mr. Chairman,” Harris insisted. 
 
 “You are out of order,” Grassley responded. 
 
 The Democrats’ objections were greeted by applause from activists in the audience, while some rose to scream objections to Kavanaugh. 
 
 They were removed by police, one at a time. 
 
 “This is the first confirmation hearing for a Supreme Court justice I’ve seen [subject] to mob rule,” fumed Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas). 
 
 According to Capitol Police, 61 individuals were arrested inside the hearing and nine outside. 
 
 Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) criticized Democrats who have 2020 presidential aspirations for grandstanding for the cameras. 
 
 “They want that coveted TV clip. Frankly, I wish we could drop all that nonsense,” he said. 
 
 In the morning, Kavanaugh introduces wife Ashley and daughters Liza and Margaret. 
 
 But later, as the protests heated up, Kavanaugh’s daughters were escorted out, according to Fox News. 
 
 “I’m sorry your daughters had to endure the political circus of this morning,” said Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas). 
 
 The kids returned later to hear former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) and Lisa Blatt, a liberal Democrat and appellate lawyer, argue for Kavanaugh’s confirmation. 
 
 Kavanaugh finally got a chance to address the committee seven hours after the hearing began. 
 
 “A good judge must be an umpire, a neutral and impartial arbiter who favors no litigant or policy,” he said. 
 
 “In our independent Judiciary, the Supreme Court is the last line of defense for the separation of powers, and the rights and liberties guaranteed by the Constitution. 
 
 “The Supreme Court must never be viewed as a partisan institution … If confirmed to the court, I would be part of a Team of Nine, committed to deciding cases according to the Constitution and laws of the United States. I would always strive to be a team player on the Team of Nine.” 
 
 Democrats delivered long monologues complaining about a lack of transparency and raising concerns that Kavanaugh would roll back abortion rights, gun control and shield President Trump from criminal prosecution. 
 
 As Kavanaugh spoke, Trump took to Twitter to denounce the Democrats trying to block his nominee. 
 
 “The Brett Kavanaugh hearings for the future Justice of the Supreme Court are truly a display of how mean, angry, and despicable the other side is. They will say anything, and are only looking to inflict pain and embarrassment to one of the most highly renowned jurists to ever appear before Congress. So sad to see!” he wrote. ||||| Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., left, questions President Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh, in the evening of the second day of his Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing,... (Associated Press) 
 
 Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., left, questions President Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh, in the evening of the second day of his Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing, Wednesday, Sept. 5, 2018, on Capitol Hill in Washington, to replace retired Justice Anthony Kennedy.... (Associated Press) 
 
 WASHINGTON (AP) — Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation tumbled into highly charged arguing Thursday over whether key documents were being withheld, and one Democrat risked Senate discipline by releasing confidential material. A newly disclosed email revealed that President Donald Trump's pick once suggested Roe v. Wade was not settled law 
 
 The finger-pointing over the unusual vetting process for Trump's nominee made for a rough start for the final day of questioning of Kavanaugh who has so far avoided major missteps that could block his confirmation. Republican John Cornyn of Texas said senators could be expelled from office for violating confidentially rules, while Democrats led by Cory Booker of New Jersey, responded, "Bring it on." 
 
 Meanwhile it was shown, in an email obtained by The Associated Press, that Kavanaugh had taken a different tone on a 2003 abortion case than he had during Wednesday's hearing when he stressed how difficult it is to overturn precedents like Roe. In the email, Kavanaugh was reviewing a potential op-ed article in support of two judicial nominees while he was working at the George W. Bush White House, according to the document. It had been held by the committee as confidential. 
 
 "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, referring to justices at the time, in an email to a Republican Senate aide. The document is partially redacted. 
 
 Asked about it by the committee's top Democrat, Dianne Feinstein of California, Kavanaugh reiterated his previous testimony that "Roe v. Wade is an important precedent of the Supreme Court." 
 
 The 15-year-old email underscored a dispute that has dominated part of the hearing over Kavanaugh's unusually long paper trail stemming from his years in the Bush White House. The panel's process resulted in hundreds of thousands of pages of Kavanaugh's documents being withheld as confidential or kept from release under presidential privilege by the Trump White House. 
 
 Booker called the process "a bit of a sham." He was chastised by GOP colleagues for having discussed a confidential document about Kavanaugh's legal views on race. Cornyn said it was "irresponsible and conduct unbecoming a senator." 
 
 Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said more documents would be released Thursday and stood by his handling of Kavanaugh's paper trail. 
 
 "My process was fair," Grassley said as he opened the session. 
 
 So far, Kavanaugh appears on track toward confirmation in the Republican-held Senate, but after a marathon 12-hour session Wednesday, he also does not seem to have changed minds on the committee, which is split along partisan lines. 
 
 The judge left unanswered questions over how he would handle investigations of the executive branch and whether he would recuse himself if cases involving Trump under special counsel Robert Mueller's probe end up at the court. 
 
 Trump says he's pleased with his nominee's performance, and Republicans are united behind him, eager to add a conservative judge to the court. 
 
 Late in the evening, Kavanaugh seemed to stumble at first when questioned by Democrat Kamala Harris of California about whom he might have spoken with at a law firm concerning the investigation into Russian election meddling. The firm in question was founded by Marc Kasowitz, who has represented Trump. 
 
 Kavanaugh eventually said he couldn't think of any such conversations but would need to see a list of the firm's lawyers. 
 
 Protesters have repeatedly tried to interrupt the hearing, which has carried strong political overtones ahead of the November congressional elections. Democrats lack the votes to block confirmation but have been pressing Kavanaugh for his views on abortion rights, gun control and other issues. 
 
 On Wednesday the judge insisted he fully embraced the importance of judicial independence. But he refused to provide direct answers to Democrats who wanted him to say whether there are limits on a president's power to issue pardons, including to himself or in exchange for a bribe. He also would not say whether he believes the president can be subpoenaed to testify. Still, he began his long day in the witness chair by declaring that "no one is above the law." 
 
 Democrats are concerned that Kavanaugh will push the court to the right and that he will side with Trump in cases stemming from Mueller's investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election and possible ties to the Trump campaign. The 53-year-old appellate judge answered cautiously when asked about most of those matters, refusing an invitation from Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut to pledge to step aside from any Supreme Court cases dealing with Trump and Mueller's investigation. 
 
 Under questioning by Republicans, Kavanaugh stressed the importance of judicial independence, "not being swayed by political or public pressure." 
 
 On abortion, Kavanaugh noted that Roe has been affirmed "many times." He defended his dissenting opinion last year in the case of a pregnant immigrant teen in federal custody. Kavanaugh would have denied her immediate access to an abortion, even after she received permission from a Texas judge. 
 
 Kavanaugh told Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, he had been unaware of the domestic violence allegations against Rob Porter, who was Trump's staff secretary, until they were publicly disclosed. Journalist Bob Woodward's new book about Trump says Kavanaugh recommended Porter for the job. 
 
 Kavanaugh had served as staff secretary to George W. Bush, and his work in the White House has figured in the hearing. Democratic senators have fought for access to documents from his three years as staff secretary, saying those could shed light on his views about policies from that era, including the detention and interrogation of terror suspects. Republicans have declined to seek the papers, and instead have gathered documents from his work as White House counsel to Bush. 
 
 When questioned about the honesty of his 2006 testimony during his nomination for the appellate court when he said he was not involved in some Bush-era policies, Kavanaugh said he was "100 percent accurate." 
 
 Republicans hope to confirm Kavanaugh in time for the first day of the new Supreme Court term, Oct. 1. 
 
 ___ 
 
 Associated Press writer Jessica Gresko contributed to this report. 
 
 ___ 
 
 Read more on AP's coverage of Kavanaugh at https://apnews.com/tag/Kavanaughnomination ||||| Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh declared fervently at his Senate confirmation hearing Tuesday the court "must never, never be viewed as a partisan institution." But that was at the end of a marathon day marked by rancorous exchanges between Democrats and Republicans, including dire Democratic fears that he would be President Donald Trump's advocate on the high court. 
 
 The week of hearings on Kavanaugh's nomination began with a sense of inevitability that the 53-year-old appellate judge eventually will be confirmed, perhaps in time for the first day of the new term, Oct. 1, and little more than a month before congressional elections. 
 
 However, the first of at least four days of hearings by the Senate Judiciary Committee began with partisan quarreling over the nomination and persistent protests from members of the audience, followed by their arrests. 
 
 Strong Democratic opposition to Trump's nominee reflects the political stakes for both parties in advance of the November elections, Robert Mueller's investigation of Trump's 2016 campaign and the potentially pivotal role Kavanaugh could play in moving the court to the right. 
 
 Democrats, including several senators poised for 2020 presidential bids, tried to block the proceedings in a dispute over Kavanaugh records withheld by the White House. Republicans in turn accused the Democrats of turning the hearing into a circus. 
 
 Trump jumped into the fray late in the day, saying on Twitter that Democrats were "looking to inflict pain and embarrassment" on Kavanaugh. 
 
 The president's comment followed the statements of Democratic senators who warned that Trump was, in the words of Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, "selecting a justice on the Supreme Court who potentially will cast a decisive vote in his own case." 
 
 In Kavanaugh's own statement at the end of more than seven hours of arguing, the federal appeals judge spoke repeatedly about the importance of an independent judiciary and the need to keep the court above partisan politics, common refrains among Supreme Court nominees that had added salience in the fraught political atmosphere of the moment. 
 
 With his wife, two children and parents sitting behind him, Kavanaugh called himself a judge with a straightforward judicial philosophy. 
 
 "A judge must be independent and must interpret the law, not make the law. A judge must interpret statutes as written. A judge must interpret the Constitution as written, informed by history and tradition and precedent," he said. 
 
 Kavanaugh also promised to be "a team player on the Team of Nine." 
 
 The Supreme Court is often thought of as nine separate judges, rather than a team. And on the most contentious cases, the court tends to split into conservative and liberal sides. But justices often do say they seek consensus, and they like to focus on how frequently they reach unanimous decisions. 
 
 Barring a major surprise over the next two days of questioning, the committee is expected to vote along party lines to send Kavanaugh's nomination to the full Senate. 
 
 Majority Republicans can confirm Kavanaugh without any Democratic votes, though they'll have little margin for error. 
 
 "There are battles worth fighting, regardless of the outcome," Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, said in an unsparing opening statement that criticized Kavanaugh's judicial opinions and the Senate process that Democrats said had deprived them of access to records of important chunks of Kavanaugh's time as an aide to President George W. Bush. 
 
 Democrats raised objections from the moment Chairman Chuck Grassley gaveled the committee to order. One by one, Democrats, including Kamala Harris of California, Cory Booker of New Jersey and Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, all potential presidential contenders, demanded that Republicans delay the hearing. They railed against the unusual vetting process by Republicans that failed to include documents from three years Kavanaugh worked in the Bush administration, and 100,000 more pages withheld by the Trump White House. Some 42,000 pages were released on the evening before of the hearing. 
 
 "We cannot possibly move forward, Mr. Chairman, with this hearing," said Harris at the top of proceedings. Grassley disagreed. 
 
 As protesters repeatedly interrupted the session, Republican Sen. Ted Cruz, who is fighting for his own re-election in Texas, apologized to Kavanaugh for the spectacle he said had less to do about the judge's legal record than Trump in the White House. 
 
 "It is about politics," said Cruz. "It is about Democratic senators re-litigating the 2016 election." 
 
 The Republicans' slim majority in the Senate was bolstered during the hearing by the announcement from Arizona that Gov. Doug Ducey was appointing Jon Kyl, the former senator, to fill the seat held by the late Sen. John McCain. When Kyl is sworn in, Republicans will hold 51 of the 100 seats. 
 
 Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska are the only two Republicans even remotely open to voting against Kavanaugh, though neither has said she would do so. Abortion rights supporters are trying to appeal to those senators, who both favor abortion access. 
 
 Kavanaugh sat silently and impassively for most of the day, occasionally sipping water and taking notes on senators' points. Besides his family, he was accompanied by outgoing White House Counsel Don McGahn and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. 
 
 Several dozen protesters, shouting one by one, disrupted the hearing at several points and were removed by police. "This is a mockery and a travesty of justice," shouted one woman. "Cancel Brett Kavanaugh!" Others shouted against the president or to protect abortion access. "Senators, we need to stop this," called out one. 
 
 As patience thinned and tempers flared, Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, denounced what he called the "mob rule." Struggling to speak over protesters, Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, said: "These people are so out of line they shouldn't be in the doggone room." 
 
 But Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., told Kavanaugh the opposition being shown at the hearing reflected the concern many Americans have over Trump's "contempt of the rule of law" and the judge's own expansive views on executive power. 
 
 "It's that president who's decided you are his man," Durbin said. "Are people nervous about this concerned about this? Of course they are." 
 
 The panel's top Democrat, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, described the hearing's "very unique circumstances." 
 
 "Not only is the country deeply divided politically, we also find ourselves with a president who faces his own serious problems," she said referring to investigations surrounding Trump. "So it's this backdrop that this nominee comes into." ||||| President Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh, a federal appeals court judge, arrives before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Sept. 5, 2018, for... (Associated Press) 
 
 President Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh, a federal appeals court judge, arrives before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Sept. 5, 2018, for the second day of his confirmation to replace retired Justice Anthony Kennedy. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik) (Associated Press) 
 
 WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on the Senate hearings on Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh (all times local): 
 
 5:15 p.m. 
 
 Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh says he stopped voting shortly after becoming a federal appeals court judge in 2006. 
 
 Republican Sen. Ted Cruz asked Kavanaugh on Wednesday whether he considers himself a "Republican judge." Kavanaugh responded he believes he voted in one election as a judge and wasn't sure what his voter registration says. 
 
 Kavanaugh says he read about Supreme Court Justice John Marshall Harlan II, who didn't vote as a federal judge. He says he thought Harlan's practice was a "good model for a federal judge" to follow. 
 
 He says, "It seemed to me that voting is a very personal expression of your policy beliefs in many ways and your personal beliefs." 
 
 Kavanaugh previously noted his decision to stop voting in a 2016 law review article. 
 
 __ 
 
 3:50 p.m. 
 
 Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh says he has not taken a position on the constitutionality of investigating a sitting president. Yet his past writings cast doubt on the idea. 
 
 Asked by Sen. Amy Klobuchar Wednesday whether he believes such investigations are only acceptable in impeachment proceedings, Kavanaugh replied: "I did not take a position on the constitutionality. Period." 
 
 In a footnote to a 2009 law review article, Kavanaugh wrote that "a serious constitutional question exists regarding whether a President can be criminally indicted and tried while in office." 
 
 A decade earlier, Kavanaugh wrote that the Constitution seems to dictate that "congressional investigation must take place in lieu of criminal investigation when the President is the subject of investigation, and that criminal prosecution can occur only after the President has left office." 
 
 __ 
 
 2:25 p.m. 
 
 President Donald Trump says he's been watching the Senate confirmation hearings of his Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. He says the judge has "an outstanding intellect." 
 
 Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office as he welcomes the emir of Kuwait to the White House, Trump says he's "happy" with the way the proceedings are going. 
 
 Trump says he "saw some incredible answers to very complex questions," when he tuned in to the proceedings. Trump called Kavanaugh "an outstanding judge" who was "born for the position." 
 
 Kavanaugh was questioned before the Senate Judiciary Committee Wednesday. 
 
 Trump says Democrats are "grasping at straws" in their questioning of Kavanaugh. 
 
 __ 
 
 2:05 p.m. 
 
 Senate Republicans have been forced to adjourn the Senate to continue the confirmation hearing for Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. 
 
 Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer objected to a request from Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to allow Kavanaugh's hearing to continue past 2 p.m. Wednesday. Under Senate rules, the minority leader must agree before a hearing can extend two hours past the opening of the Senate. The chamber opened at noon on Wednesday. 
 
 Schumer objected, protesting that Republicans are holding back records from Kavanaugh's time in government. 
 
 Rather than allowing Kavanaugh's hearing to end at 2 p.m., McConnell adjourned the Senate. The confirmation hearing is expected to last into the late evening. 
 
 Earlier in the day, liberal groups blasted Schumer's handling of the Supreme Court fight, declaring, "you are failing us." 
 
 ___ 
 
 12:25 p.m. 
 
 Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh is denying that he misled senators in testimony when he was nominated to be an appellate judge in 2006. He says the testimony was "100 percent accurate." 
 
 The response does not appear to have satisfied Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont. Leahy is suggesting that confidential documents not available to the public may contradict Kavanaugh's assertions that he knew nothing about a Bush administration warrantless surveillance program or efforts by a Republican Judiciary Committee aide to steal material from Democrats in advance of judicial nomination hearings. 
 
 Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley said he would consider making the documents public in time for Leahy's next round of questions Thursday. 
 
 Kavanaugh's response came after an unusual moment where Democrats played a video clip of Kavanaugh's 2006 testimony. 
 
 ___ 
 
 12:15 p.m. 
 
 Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh is declining to answer questions about the extent of the president's pardon power. 
 
 Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont asked Kavanaugh: "President Trump claims he has an absolute right to pardon himself. Does he?" 
 
 Kavanaugh responded that the question was a hypothetical one he "can't begin to answer in this context as a sitting judge and as a nominee to the Supreme Court." 
 
 Leahy followed by asking whether the president has the ability to pardon someone in exchange for a promise not to testify against him. Kavanaugh declined to answer. 
 
 Leahy concluded by saying: "I hope for the sake of the country that remains a hypothetical question." 
 
 President Donald Trump has declined to rule out pardons for people convicted in special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation. 
 
 ___ 
 
 11:35 a.m. 
 
 Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh says he knew nothing about the sexual misconduct allegations against a judge who was a friend and mentor. 
 
 Kavanaugh said Wednesday that when the allegations against former federal appeals court judge Alex Kozinski became public, they were a "gut punch" for him and for the federal judiciary. Asked whether he knew about the allegations before they became public, Kavanaugh responded: "nothing." He said he was "shocked and disappointed." 
 
 Asked whether he was on an email list that Kozinski used to send offensive material, Kavanaugh responded: "I don't remember anything like that." 
 
 Kozinski retired in December after several female former law clerks and colleagues accused him of sexual misconduct. 
 
 Kavanaugh clerked for Kozinski, and Kozinski introduced him during his 2006 confirmation hearing to be a judge. 
 
 ___ 
 
 11:20 a.m. 
 
 Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh is refusing to say whether a president can be forced to testify in a criminal case, calling it a hypothetical. 
 
 The topic is front-and-center at Kavanaugh's hearing because the man who nominated him, President Donald Trump, could face a subpoena in special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation. 
 
 The top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, asked Kavanaugh whether he thinks a sitting president can "be required to respond to a subpoena." 
 
 Kavanaugh responded: "I can't give you an answer on that hypothetical question." 
 
 The Supreme Court has never ruled on a presidential subpoena. 
 
 President Bill Clinton was subpoenaed by independent counsel Kenneth Starr in 1998. Clinton eventually agreed to testify voluntarily and the subpoena was withdrawn. 
 
 Kavanaugh worked for Starr. 
 
 ___ 
 
 11 a.m. 
 
 Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh says a 1973 Supreme Court decision that established a constitutional right to an abortion is an "important precedent" that has "been reaffirmed many times." 
 
 Kavanaugh was asked about the Roe v. Wade ruling by Democrat Dianne Feinstein of California. He said the decision has "been reaffirmed many times over the past 45 years." And he noted that a 1992 decision of the court called Planned Parenthood v. Casey didn't just reaffirm Roe v. Wade in passing. He said that decision becomes "precedent on precedent." 
 
 Kavanaugh compared the Roe decision to another case, Miranda v. Arizona, which requires law enforcement to tell suspects their rights. Kavanaugh noted that former Chief Justice William Rehnquist had been a critic of the Miranda decision but later upheld it as precedent. 
 
 ___ 
 
 10:30 a.m. 
 
 Republicans are invoking Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg to make the case that Brett Kavanaugh should decline to say how he might vote on any particular case. 
 
 Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Grassley referred to the so-called "Ginsburg standard" Wednesday during the second day of Kavanaugh's confirmation hearings. 
 
 Ginsburg said during her 1993 confirmation hearing that it would be wrong for her to "preview in this legislative chamber how I would cast my vote on questions the Supreme Court may be called upon to decide." 
 
 As Kavanaugh put it, quoting Ginsburg, that means "no hints, no forecasts, no previews." 
 
 Despite her statement, Ginsburg was questioned extensively about abortion during her hearing. She told lawmakers, "It is essential to woman's equality with man that she be the decision maker." 
 
 ___ 
 
 10:20 a.m. 
 
 Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh is pointing to a decision where he ruled for an associate of Osama bin Laden as evidence of his independence as judge. 
 
 Asked by Judiciary Chairman Charles Grassley to discuss what judicial independence means to him, Kavanaugh pointed to his opinion in a case involving Salim Ahmed Hamdan, who was bin Laden's former chauffeur. Hamdan challenged his detention at the U.S. military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. 
 
 Kavanaugh told senators that "you'll never have a nominee who's ruled for a more unpopular defendant." Kavanaugh says judges don't make decisions based on who people are, but "whether they have the law on their side." 
 
 Hamdan was released from Guantanamo before the appeals court ruling that vacated his conviction. 
 
 ___ 
 
 9:55 a.m. 
 
 Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh says he believes the first thing that makes a good judge is "independence." 
 
 Kavanaugh is answering questions Wednesday in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee. It's his first day answering questions from lawmakers. 
 
 Committee chairman Chuck Grassley began the day by asking Kavanaugh to explain what he thinks makes a good judge. 
 
 Kavanaugh responded that he thinks "the first quality of a good judge in our constitutional system is independence." He said being a good judge also requires paying attention to the words of the Constitution and the words of laws, "not doing what I want to do." 
 
 The judge said he wants parties to leave oral arguments in his cases believing he had an "open mind, he gave me a fair shake." 
 
 9:50 a.m. 
 
 Demonstrators are again disrupting the hearings for Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. 
 
 Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Grassley attempted to gavel in the second day of hearings on Wednesday when shouting protesters began disrupting the hearings. Grassley said 70 people were arrested during the first day of hearings the day before. 
 
 Kavanaugh will be answering questions from senators all day. Democratic senators are expected to press for his views on issues like abortion, guns and executive power. 
 
 President Donald Trump nominated the 53-year-old appellate judge in July to fill the seat of retired Justice Anthony Kennedy. 
 
 ___ 
 
 9:20 a.m. 
 
 Liberal and progressive groups are pressuring Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer to unify Democrats against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. 
 
 A letter sent to Schumer on the second day of hearings for President Donald Trump's court pick says bluntly: "You are failing us." 
 
 Democrats face a difficult climb trying to block Kavanaugh's confirmation. If nearly all Republicans back Kavanaugh, as is expected, several Democrats facing tough re-election races may vote to confirm him. 
 
 But the groups say Democrats in states like West Virginia, North Dakota, Indiana, Missouri, Montana and Alabama have nothing to fear from voting against Kavanaugh. They say voters in those states "care deeply" about the issues before the court and "will reward a principled vote." 
 
 The Senate's questioning of Kavanaugh is set to begin Wednesday morning. 
 
 ___ 
 
 4:20 a.m. 
 
 Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh touted the importance of an independent judiciary as his confirmation hearings began with strident Democratic criticism that he would be President Donald Trump's man on the high court. 
 
 On Wednesday, Kavanaugh can expect to spend most of the day in the hot seat, sparring with Democratic senators over abortion, guns, executive power and other high-profile issues. 
 
 A long day of questioning awaits the 53-year-old appellate judge, whom Trump nominated in July to fill the seat of retired Justice Anthony Kennedy. The change could make the court more conservative on a range of issues. 
 
 Barring a surprise, Republicans appear on track to confirm Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, perhaps in time for the first day of the new term on Oct. 1. ||||| Senators Dispute Status Of Released Documents As Questioning Of Kavanaugh Wraps Up 
 
 Enlarge this image toggle caption Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images 
 
 Updated at 10:55 p.m. ET 
 
 Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh weathered another long day of questions from the Senate Judiciary Committee Thursday. 
 
 He was pressed once again for his views on presidential power. 
 
 Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., sought a promise from Kavanaugh that he would be willing to serve as a check on the president who nominated him. 
 
 "Give us some reassurance about your commitment to the democratic institutions in this country, in the face of a president who seems prepared to cast them aside," Durbin said. "Whether it's voter suppression, the role of the media — case after case, we hear this president willing to walk away from the rule of law in this country." 
 
 "No one is above the law," Kavanaugh replied. "I've made clear in my writings that a court order that requires a president to do something or prohibits a president from doing something under the Constitution or laws of the United States is the final word in our system." 
 
 Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, complained that the Supreme Court had been unduly deferential to President Trump this summer when it upheld his travel ban, despite what she called the administration's "obviously bogus" justification. She pressed Kavanaugh on when the high court should question a president's national security claims. 
 
 "National security is not a blank check for the president," Kavanaugh said, pointing to a number of cases in which the court had overruled the administration. "Even in the context of wartime, the courts are not silenced. Civil liberties are not silent." 
 
 Kavanaugh told lawmakers he is so committed to judicial independence, he stopped voting in national elections after he became a judge. 
 
 Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., again asked Kavanaugh if he'd ever spoken with anyone at the law firm of Trump's personal attorney Marc Kasowitz about special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation, renewing a line of questioning she'd opened Wednesday night. 
 
 "The answer is no," Kavanaugh said. 
 
 As he's done throughout the hearing, Kavanaugh declined to answer a series of questions from Harris about issues that might come before the high court, including abortion, same-sex marriage and immigration. 
 
 The White House issued a statement late Thursday praising Kavanaugh. 
 
 "Through long hours and days of questioning, Judge Kavanaugh consistently reinforced his firm belief in the bedrock principles of judicial independence and the rule of law," deputy press secretary Raj Shah said in the statement. 
 
 Kavanaugh was asked repeatedly during the televised hearing about whether he would support opening the Supreme Court to TV cameras. He promised to keep an open mind, but said he would also want to consider the views of the eight current justices. 
 
 Thursday's session began with Democrats on the committee in open revolt over the handling of documents from Kavanaugh's tenure in the George W. Bush White House. 
 
 Some documents have been withheld altogether. Others have been provided to the committee on "confidential" terms, meaning senators can see them but they can't be made public. 
 
 Democrats object that the confidential label has been applied to a wide swath of records, many of which contain no personal or sensitive information. They also complain that classification decisions were made by former President Bush's attorney, William Burck, a former deputy of Kavanaugh's. 
 
 Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., released some of the confidential documents Thursday morning. Hirono also released "confidential" documents, drawing a stern rebuke from Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, who called them "irresponsible and outrageous." 
 
 "This is no different from the senator deciding to release classified information," Cornyn said Thursday morning. "No senator deserves to sit on this committee, or serve in the Senate, in my view, if they decide to be a law unto themselves and willingly flout the rules of the Senate and the determination of confidentiality and classification." 
 
 Read the documents released by Sen. Hirono here and the documents released by Sen. Leahy here. 
 
 For all the theatrics on both sides, the debate over documents fizzled by Thursday afternoon, once it became clear their release had been authorized by Bush's attorney overnight. 
 
 "We cleared the documents last night shortly after Senator Booker's staff asked us to," Burck said in a statement. "In fact, we have said yes to every request made by the Senate Democrats to make documents public." 
 
 And an aide to Grassley told NPR that "counsels for the senators who requested waivers last night/this morning for particular documents were notified that their requests had been honored beginning at around 3:50 this morning." 
 
 But a spokesperson for Hirono said the senator was not informed that the documents released by her office Thursday morning had been approved to be made public. 
 
 It is not clear whether Booker knew the documents he released had already been approved before his statements Thursday morning at the beginning of the hearing — when he said that his decision to release the documents was a form of civil disobedience and that he was aware he was risking expulsion from the Senate for making the documents public. 
 
 "Cory said this morning that he was releasing committee confidential documents, and that's exactly what he's done," Booker spokeswoman Kristin Lynch said in an email to NPR. "Last night, he was admonished by Republicans for breaking the rules when he read from committee confidential documents. Cory and Senate Democrats were able to shame the committee into agreeing to make last night's documents publicly available, and Cory publicly released those documents as well as other committee confidential documents today. And he'll keep releasing them because Republicans are hiding Brett Kavanaugh's record from the American people." 
 
 Enlarge this image toggle caption Jacquelyn Martin/AP Jacquelyn Martin/AP 
 
 The documents released by Booker include a batch of emails concerning racial profiling, affirmative action and other race-conscious government programs. 
 
 In a 2002 email, Kavanaugh wrote that security procedures adopted in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks should ultimately be race-neutral, though he acknowledged that developing such procedures could take time. Others in the White House suggested racial profiling might be legally justified if it enhanced security. 
 
 In a 2001 email, Kavanaugh addressed a legal challenge to an affirmative action program within the Department of Transportation. 
 
 "The fundamental problem in this case is that these DOT regulations use a lot of legalisms and disguises to mask what in reality is a naked racial set-aside," he wrote. 
 
 Kavanaugh had sidestepped questions from Booker on Wednesday night about the circumstances in which government can and cannot use race-conscious measures to address past discrimination. 
 
 He conceded that hopes he expressed nearly two decades ago for a color-blind society have not been fulfilled. 
 
 "We see on an all-too-common basis that racism still exists in the United States of America," Kavanaugh said. "Our long march to racial equality is not over." 
 
 Separately, The New York Times reported on leaked emails from the "confidential" file. One is an email drafted by Kavanaugh in 2003, in which he questioned whether the Supreme Court's 1973 Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion should be described as "settled law of the land." 
 
 Pressed on that email by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., on Thursday, Kavanaugh explained he was simply summarizing views of legal scholars and not offering his own view. 
 
 On Wednesday, Kavanaugh said he understands the weight that many people attach to Roe. But he declined to say whether that case was properly decided. 
 
 Throughout the hearing, Kavanaugh has avoided commenting on Trump's behavior, despite urging from Senate Democrats. 
 
 "I'm not going to get within three zip codes of a political controversy," he said Thursday, when Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., asked him about Trump's attacks on judges, including Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. 
 
 "I've spoken about my respect and appreciation for the eight justices on the Supreme Court," Kavanaugh said. "I know they're all dedicated public servants who have given a great deal to this country." 
 
 Barring surprises, Kavanaugh appears likely to win confirmation in time to take his place alongside those eight justices when the Supreme Court begins its fall term next month. 
 
 Not seeing the video? Click here. ||||| Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., and Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., left, pause as protesters disrupt the confirmation hearing of President Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh, on Capitol Hill... (Associated Press) 
 
 Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., and Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., left, pause as protesters disrupt the confirmation hearing of President Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Sept. 4, 2018. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) (Associated Press) 
 
 Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., and Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., left, pause as protesters disrupt the confirmation hearing of President Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Sept. 4, 2018. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) (Associated Press) Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., and Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., left, pause as protesters disrupt the confirmation hearing of President Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh, on Capitol Hill... (Associated Press) 
 
 WASHINGTON (AP) — Spoiling for a fight, some Democratic senators weighing 2020 presidential campaigns seized upon the opening moments of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh's Senate confirmation hearings on Tuesday in a show of force aimed at countering President Donald Trump. 
 
 One by one, Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee, including Kamala Harris of California, Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and Cory Booker of New Jersey, demanded that Republicans delay Kavanaugh's hearing after a last-minute release of more than 40,000 pages of documents and the withholding of more than 100,000 more. 
 
 The Democrats' coordinated showdown with the committee's chairman, Iowa Sen. Charles Grassley, served as a theatrical preview of what is expected to be a wild, unpredictable 2020 campaign against Trump, who has stoked outrage among Democratic activists and is expected to fuel an unusually large field of challengers. 
 
 The hearing showed the degree to which the Senate could be the testing ground of resistance among Democrats who are prepared to fight the Republican president's agenda in a field without an obvious front-runner. And it harkened back to how Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and other Democratic senators battled President George W. Bush's administration before launching presidential bids of their own in the 2008 contest. 
 
 Grassley hadn't even introduced Kavanaugh by name when Harris interjected, objecting to the late Monday night release of Kavanaugh's documents. Harris has created a number of viral moments with her tough questioning of witnesses during her first term and quickly noted lawmakers hadn't had a chance to "review or read or analyze" the papers. 
 
 "You're out of order. I'll proceed," Grassley responded, banging his gavel. 
 
 Said Harris: "We cannot possibly move forward, Mr. Chairman, with this hearing." 
 
 As Grassley tried to introduce Kavanaugh, Klobuchar called for the hearing to be postponed as the two senators attempted to talk over each other. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., jumped in, asking that the hearing be adjourned, prompting loud cheers and applause in the room. 
 
 Kavanaugh, a veteran judge and a former aide to Bush, sat silently as the spectacle unfolded. 
 
 Booker then appealed to Grassley's "sense of decency and integrity," pushing for more transparency in the hearing. 
 
 "We are rushing through this process in a way that is unnecessary," Booker said. 
 
 The three Democrats on the Judiciary Committee are considering whether to enter the presidential campaign following the November midterm elections along with other Senate Democrats not on the panel, such as Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Kirsten Gillibrand of New York and Jeff Merkley of Oregon. 
 
 Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, an independent who unsuccessfully battled Clinton for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination, also is weighing another campaign. 
 
 The field could include a number of Democratic governors, members of Congress, mayors and political newcomers along with familiar faces such as former Vice President Joe Biden, who appeared at a Labor Day parade in Pittsburgh on Monday as he tests the waters. 
 
 Trump, even with his party facing a challenging midterm election, has relished the prospect of facing off against Democrats when the presidential campaign begins in earnest next year. 
 
 The president didn't immediately respond to the Democrats' opposition to Kavanaugh on Tuesday. But he dismissed on Twitter the possibility of another prospective candidate, former Secretary of State John Kerry, Democrats' 2004 presidential nominee. 
 
 "I should only be so lucky," Trump tweeted on Monday, adding, "although the field that is currently assembling looks really good - FOR ME!" 
 
 Republicans accused Democrats of politicizing the hearing and avoiding substance because they lack the votes to derail the nomination. 
 
 "It is about Democratic senators trying to re-litigate the 2016 election and just as importantly, working to begin litigating the 2020 presidential election," said Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, who unsuccessfully challenged Trump for the 2016 nomination. 
 
 During the hearing, the room was filled by demonstrators shouting at Kavanaugh, a reminder of the bitterness against Trump's presidency and Democrats' outrage over the treatment of Merrick Garland, Obama's Supreme Court nominee, who was denied a hearing last year by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell before Trump's election. 
 
 Minority Democrats are unable to delay a vote on Kavanaugh, making the confirmation process more of a demonstration of the party's warnings that he could help overturn the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, which established a woman's constitutional right to an abortion, or undermine health care or other Democratic priorities. 
 
 Democrats are expected to press Kavanaugh on the issues when questioning begins on Wednesday. 
 
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 On Twitter follow Ken Thomas at https://twitter.com/KThomasDC
– One word keeps showing up in coverage of the first day of Brett Kavanaugh's Supreme Court confirmation hearing: "chaos." (See here, here, and here.) Republican Sen. John Cornyn of Texas had a stronger phrase: "mob rule," while Democrat Dick Durbin of Illinois heard the "noise of democracy." Democrats were staging a unified front to try to keep the hearing from proceeding, angry about withheld documents from Kavanaugh's past, including his tenure in the George W. Bush White House. The release of more than 40,000 documents Monday night seems to have only made things worse, with Democrats arguing that it was humanly impossible to review them in time. Despite the Democrats' protests, Senate Judiciary Committee Charles Grassley says he will not stop the hearing, which is expected to last four days, reports Politico. Other developments: Arrests: Capitol Police arrested 22 protesters on disorderly conduct charges during the morning, reports the Washington Post. Handmaid's Tale: Women dressed as characters from the Handmaid's Tale were among the protesters outside the hearing room, notes the Huffington Post. See an image here. The costumes illustrate their concerns that Kavanaugh on the Supreme Court will be a setback for women's rights. Roe v. Wade: When the direct questions finally begin, Democrats are expected to press Kavanaugh on whether he'd be willing to overturn the ruling that legalized abortion, reports the New York Times. The question, said Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein, is not whether he believes that Roe v. Wade is “settled law,” but “whether you believe it is the correct law.” The judge's views on executive power and gun control also were expected to be examined. 2 views: The interruptions and chaos are about "Democratic senators trying to re-litigate the 2016 election and just as importantly, working to begin litigating the 2020 presidential election," said Republican Ted Cruz, per the AP. But Democrat Patrick Leahy wondered, “What are we trying to hide? Why are we rushing?” Excerpts: Read excerpts of Kavanaugh's eventual opening statement here via MarketWatch. "A good judge must be an umpire—a neutral and impartial arbiter who favors no litigant or policy," Kavanaugh is to say. "I don’t decide cases based on personal or policy preferences. I am not a pro-plaintiff or pro-defendant judge. I am not a pro-prosecution or pro-defense judge. I am a pro-law judge."