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Documents show how Clinton leaked names of court nominees

WASHINGTON — New documents reveal how the Clinton administration strategically — and disingenuously — leaked the names of potential nominees to the Supreme Court, held back potentially embarrassing documents, and stage-managed televised confirmation hearings.

One document, penned by close Clinton aide Doug Band, exposes what reporters have long suspected — that the first round of leaks of potential court nominees is often removed from reality.

“During the first [Justice Byron White] vacancy, many names were floated and leaked, mostly to appease various constituencies,” Band wrote in an internal 1998 memo, one of thousands of documents released Friday by the Clinton presidential library.

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg eventually filled that slot. Justice Stephen Breyer filled a second.

The White House compiled a long list of what questions each senator was likely to ask in Judiciary Committee confirmation hearings. Even conservative Republicans like Strom Thurmond of South Carolina appear to have cooperated.

Doug BandPatrick McMullan

A 1993 memo from Ron Klain (now Vice President Joe Biden’s chief of staff) reveals “close to 100 areas of questioning planned by the Senators, covering about 50 different topics.” He writes that he got the questions through “courtesy calls, our subsequent contacts with staff and Senators” and prior hearings.

A 1994 memo for Breyer’s confirmation lists detailed court cases likely to be cited by senators, including 13 cases to be referenced in questions by Republican Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa).

The same memo lists an expected question from then-Sen. Carol Mosely Braun (D-Ill.) on sentencing guidelines — “additional questions on sentencing attached.”

That appears to reference a June 1993 memo to Mosely-Braun, from an unlisted sender, titled “Possible Questions for Judge Breyer on the Sentencing Guidelines.”

Ruth Bader GinsburgAP Photo

“What prompted the decision to change the standard of review in Rivera,” Mosely-Braun was to ask, along with multiple follow-ups. It isn’t clear from the document whether the White House was feeding her the question or whether her staff gave it to the White House.

Hand-written notes to what appears to be an internal Q&A session with Ginsburg offer some guidance on deliberate obfuscation.

“I cannot answer — good answer that you can use,” the memo advises.

The issue of what to hand over to pesky Senate investigators is also addressed. Staff advised telling Breyer, identified as “SB”: “Provide only Puerto Rico travel voucher (in which SB made reimbursements). Send memo-explaining reimbursements. DON’T send any other travel vouchers.”

Stephen BreyerGetty Images

Even the op-eds that appear in newspapers boosting a nominee appear to be staged. A 1994 memo to White House lawyer Clifford Sloan by Justice Department lawyer Preeta Bansal lists “potential Op-Ed Writers” who might support Breyer.

One of them is Susan Estrich, an attorney who is also a consultant and commentator. “Susan is happy to write a USA Today column praising the President and Breyer, and will plan to do so next Thursday (July 7),” Bansal wrote.

“She does not, however, want to write that it is a good thing the President has eliminated ‘rancor’ from the confirmation process — she joked that rancor is a good thing,” the memo continues. “But she promised to put in some good words for the President.”

Ginsburg had an inside track on Clinton’s vetting committee — one of Clinton’s four vettors, David T. Goldberg, now a New York lawyer, had clerked for her.