WASHINGTON _ Senate Judiciary Committee ranking member Dianne Feinstein isn't happy with the National Archives.
The office is withholding documents related to Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh from Democrats on the panel.
Feinstein sent a letter to Archivist David S. Ferriero this week saying she is "alarmed" that he is denying minority members the materials "necessary to fulfill their constitutional duty to provide advice and consent, while providing the materials requested by the Republicans."
The documents relate to Kavanaugh's work as staff secretary during George W. Bush's administration. In a letter on Aug. 2, the archivist told Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer that Democrats could not access the information because the request didn't come from the Senate Judiciary chairman, Charles E. Grassley.
"Under your overly restrictive reading of the Presidential Records Act, minority members of the Senate Judiciary Committee now have no greater right to Mr. Kavanaugh's records than members of the press and the public," Feinstein's letter reads.
"No Judiciary Committee rule expressly prohibits the ranking member from requesting information on the committee's behalf or provides that the chairman has exclusive authority," she added.
Kavanaugh's confirmation hearings are expected to begin in September.
