Orrin Hatch: “Well, he worked for both the Clinton administration and a Republican administration. And he got the highest raves and…”

“Well, he worked for both the Clinton administration and a Republican administration. And he got the highest raves and performance evaluations by both administrations, meaning that he worked in a bipartisan way with both administrations. Unfortunately, in order to create a red herring issue that they can hide behind, our colleagues on the other side have demanded his recommendations while at the Solicitor General's Office--the attorney for the U.S.A., for us citizens, the private, privileged memoranda, his recommendations on appeals on matters involving certiorari and on matters involving amicus curiae. There has never been such a move. To my knowledge, the Justice Department, the Solicitor General's Office has never--nor will it ever--give up those documents because they are privileged executive branch documents. I cannot help but believe our colleagues on the other side know as much about that as I do. They know that is absolutely accurate, and I am just suggesting this is a red herring issue so that they can hold up this nominee with a filibuster, of all things--the first in history.”