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 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. 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. "Last night, he was admonished by Republicans for breaking the rules when he read from committee confidential documents. 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. During the confirmation hearing on Wednesday, Kavanaugh said: "As a general proposition I understand the importance of the precedent set forth in Roe v. 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 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. After emerging largely unscathed after the final round of questions from senators that stretched late into Thursday evening, Kavanaugh could take comfort in passing his biggest test. He avoided ceding ground on the most contentious issues, either by saying he wanted to keep "three zip codes" away from politics or by arguing that he could not comment on "hypothetical" cases that could come before him on the nation's top bench. 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. 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. The questioning grew mildly tense, with Blumenthal suggesting that Kavanaugh’s answers were ambiguous, which the judge disputed. 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. Harris returned to the question on Thursday evening, saying that she had been working on "reliable information" that Kavanaugh had a conversation about the probe with someone from Kasowitz Benson Torres, the law firm founded by Trump's personal attorney Marc Kasowitz. "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. 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. I openly invite and accept the consequences of my team 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. 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." Booker, however, insisted he was in the right, saying he read from the documents aloud in the hearing on Wednesday night long before they were cleared at around 4 a.m. Democrats have repeatedly complained that the White House is withholding tens of thousands of documents relevant to the nomination and wants many more that have been provided released to 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. “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. 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. 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 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 a president from doing something under the Constitution or laws of the United States is the final word in our system." — 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. JUST WATCHED Senator challenges Kavanaugh on Mueller probe Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Senator challenges Kavanaugh on Mueller probe 02:55 
 
 2003 email shows Kavanaugh discussing Roe 
 
 In another flashpoint development, a previously unreleased 2003 email from Kavanaugh, while he was an official in the Bush White House, shows him raising the point of whether Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court ruling that upheld the right to an abortion, was settled law of the land. “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. 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. — 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? 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.) 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. #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. "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. 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. 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. The office of Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley, an Iowa Republican, also said that senators, including Booker, were notified "before they spoke today" that the restrictions on the documents had been waived. In recent years, Supreme Court nominees have gotten through their confirmation hearings by refusing to say how they would rule on what they say is a hypothetical future case on the issue.  Washington (CNN) Brett Kavanaugh emerged from two days of tough questioning in the Senate Judiciary Committee without making any obvious missteps that could imperil his confirmation as the justice who will pull the Supreme Court to the right and hand Donald Trump a generational presidential legacy.
– Day three of the Brett Kavanaugh confirmation hearing has opened with a bang: Democratic Sen. Cory Booker says he has ordered his staff to release a Kavanaugh email even though it's supposed to remain under wraps. It's not clear yet what the email says, but NBC News reports that it concerns racial profiling. Booker called his act one of civil disobedience, reports NPR. "I openly invite and accept the consequences," he said, per CNN. "The penalty comes with potential ousting from the Senate." Indeed, Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn read aloud rules stating that a senator who divulges "the secret or confidential business" of the Senate faces expulsion, reports the Washington Post. "Bring the charges," said Booker. "All of us are ready to face that rule," added fellow Democrat Richard Blumenthal. Democrats have been chafing that too many of Kavanaugh's documents are either being withheld or deemed off limits for the hearing. Booker's stand comes after the New York Times obtained some of those off-limits emails. In one from 2003, when Kavanaugh was working in the White House of George W. Bush, he objects to language that Roe v. Wade is "settled law." He was going over a draft opinion stating that "it is widely accepted by legal scholars across the board that Roe v. Wade and its progeny are the settled law of the land," but he took exception to the phrase. "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," he wrote at the time. As the Times notes, Kavanaugh didn't state his personal opinion on the matter.