Chuck Grassley: “Mr. Estrada is not the only former deputy or assistant to the Solicitor General nominated to the Federal bench. In fact…”

“Mr. Estrada is not the only former deputy or assistant to the Solicitor General nominated to the Federal bench. In fact, there are seven others now serving on the Federal Courts of Appeals. None had any prior judicial experience, and the committee did not ask the Justice Department to turn over any confidential internal memoranda those nominees prepared while serving in the Solicitor General's Office. The seven nominees were: Samuel Alito on the 3rd Circuit, Danny Boggs on the 6th Circuit, William Bryson and Daniel Friedman on the Federal Circuit, Frank Easterbrook and Richard Posner on the 7th Circuit, and A. Raymond Randolph on the D.C. Circuit. Why should Mr. Estrada be treated any differently? During Mr. Estrada's hearing, Judiciary Committee Democrats alleged that the committee has reviewed the work product of other nominees, including memos written by Frank Easterbrook, by Chief Justice Rehnquist when he served as a clerk to Justice Jackson, and by Robert Bork when he was an official at the Justice Department. For the record, there is no evidence that the Department of Justice ever turned over confidential memoranda prepared by Frank Easterbrook when he served in the Solicitor General's Office. There also is no evidence that the committee even requested such information.”