Kavanaugh dodges pardon question as hypothetical

(5 Sep 2018) 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. Kavanaugh also refused to say whether he thinks a president can pardon himself -- or provide a pardon in exchange for a bribe or pardon someone on the understanding that the person wouldn't testify against the president. "I'm not going to answer hypothetical questions of that sort," Kavanaugh said, responding to questions from Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...