Another Roberts Poll: AOL; Should WH release all, some, or none

shelley806

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Mon Jul-25-05 03:09 PM
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Another Roberts Poll: AOL; Should WH release all, some, or none

of Roberts' documents for past administrations, with a separate snip on Kerry's response.

http://aolsvc.news.aol.com/news/article.adp?id=20050724142609990004

Should the White House release all documents Judge Roberts wrote for past administrations?

Yes 72%
No 20%
Maybe some 8%

Total Votes: 12,065

Roberts Declines to Explain Conservative Group Listing
White House Won't Release All Memos From Supreme Court Nominee
By DOUGLASS K. DANIEL, AP
<snip>

WASHINGTON (July 25) - Supreme Court nominee John Roberts declined Monday to say why he was listed in a leadership directory of the Federalist Society and the White House said he has no recollection of belonging to the conservative group.
The question of Roberts' membership in the society - an influential organization of conservative lawyers and judges formed in the early 1980s to combat what its members said was growing liberalism on the bench - emerged as a vexing issue at the start of another week of meetings for President Bush's nominee on Capitol Hill.
Although no Democrats have publicly threatened to filibuster his nomination, they have said they're concerned that not enough is known about Roberts' personal and legal views. Questions about where he stands on a range of issues, including abortion, likely will be front-line matters at his confirmation hearings later this summer.

Several news organizations, including The Associated Press, reported immediately after his nomination that Roberts had been a member of the Federalist Society. The AP and others printed corrections after the White House said later that Roberts doesn't recall ever belonging to the group. "The Washington Post reported Monday that it had obtained from a liberal group a 1997-98 Federalist Society leadership directory listing Roberts, then a partner in a private law firm, as being a steering committee member in the group's Washington chapter.Roberts has acknowledged participating in Federal Society events and giving speeches for the organization.But on Monday, presidential press secretary Scott McClellan said, "He doesn't recall ever paying dues or being a member. "Whether he's a member or not shouldn't matter, said Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas."Obviously it wasn't central in his life. But it's not like being a member of the Communist Party," Cornyn said after meeting Roberts.

http://aolsvc.news.aol.com/news/article.adp?id=20050722192809990007

Kerry Seeks Release of Roberts' Documents
By JESSE J. HOLLAND, AP

WASHINGTON (July 23) - Democratic Sen. John Kerry urged the White House on Friday to release "in their entirety" all documents and memos from Supreme Court nominee John Roberts' tenure in two Republican administrations."We cannot do our duty if either Judge Roberts or the Bush administration hides elements of his professional record," said the Massachusetts senator who was his party's presidential candidate last year.Opening what is expected to be a broader attempt by Democrats to pry loose documents, Kerry issued his statement as Roberts made the latest in a series of courtesy calls on senators in advance of confirmation hearings.

Democratic officials also said Friday they want access to all material regarding Roberts at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in California. Roberts served in the White House counsel's office from 1982-1986. He was principal deputy solicitor general in the administration of President George H.W. Bush.The Reagan Library, in Simi Valley, Calif., holds an unknown number of documents relating to Roberts, arranged by subject matter. While material in some subjects are designated on the library's Web site as available to the public, most is not.

The Democratic officials said Democrats also are eager to learn details of Roberts' activities in Florida in 2000, at the time of the state's contested presidential recount. They spoke on condition of anonymity, saying they were not authorized to provide details.An attorney in private practice at the time, Roberts flew to the state at his own expense to offer advice to Republican Gov. Jeb Bush, as the governor's older brother tried to clinch the election over then-Vice President Al Gore.The Democratic officials described the search for information as routine in the case of any nominee to the Supreme Court.Tracy Schmaler, a spokeswoman for Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee, declined to confirm the disclosure. She said that in general, Democrats intend to seek material relating to Roberts' career.Kerry is not a member of the committee. But he nonetheless injected himself into the debate at the end of a week in which Bush appeared to catch Democrats off guard by picking a court candidate with conservative credentials, yet one with little judicial experience, and thus, little public paper trail.