Arlen Specter: “Mr. Estrada was questioned about an article which appeared in The Nation, which referred to anonymous sources on the…”

“Mr. Estrada was questioned about an article which appeared in The Nation, which referred to anonymous sources on the subject that Mr. Estrada was questioning prospective clerks for Justice Kennedy and was applying a litmus test. This is what is set forth in the article in The Nation in the October 7, 2002, issue: Perhaps the most damaging evidence against Estrada comes from two lawyers he interviewed for Supreme Court clerkships. Both were unwilling to be identified by name for fear of reprisals. The first told me: ``Since I knew Miguel, I went to him to help me get a Supreme Court clerkship. I knew he was screening candidates for Justice Kennedy. Miguel told me, `No way. You're way too liberal.' I felt he was definitely submitting me to an ideological litmus test, and I am a moderate Democrat. . . .'' A second unnamed person in the article said: ``I was a clerk for an appeals court judge,'' the professor told me, ``and my judge called Justice Kennedy recommending me for a clerkship with him. Justice Kennedy then called me and said I had made the first cut and would soon be called for an interview. I was then interviewed by Miguel Estrada and another lawyer. Estrada asked most of the questions. He asked me a lot of unfair, ideological questions, a lot about the death penalty, which I told him I thought was immoral. I felt I was being subjected to an ideological litmus test. . . .'' And it goes on, but that is the pertinent part.…”