Rod Rosenstein requests 93 federal prosecutors help vet Brett Kavanaugh: Report
by Diana Stancy Correll
Washington Examiner
Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein has requested that federal prosecutors help vet President Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh, a new report says.
Rosenstein requested that the prosecutors examine Kavanaugh’s government documents and asked the 93 United States attorneys to have every office submit several federal prosecutors “who can make this important project a priority for the next several weeks,” the New York Times reports.
The move departs from the norm, as it is standard for Justice Department lawyers to participate in work for Supreme Court nominations, but not prosecutors.
According to Justice Department spokesperson Sarah Isgur Flores, “The scope of the production of executive branch documents we’ve been asked for is many, many times as large” as recent nominations such as justices Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor, who did not have federal prosecutors help vet them.
Flores did note that federal prosecutors have been tasked with reviewing nomination documents previously. However, it is unprecedented that a deputy attorney general would solicit assistance from all U.S. attorney offices.
Rosenstein said in his message that he predicted he would need approximately 100 full-time lawyers to prepare for Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearing. He said the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Policy in Washington would manage the team.
Kavanaugh is the second Supreme Court justice President Trump has nominated. Neil Gorsuch was Trump’s first pick; he was confirmed to the seat left by the late Justice Antonin Scalia.