EPIC Calls on Senate Leaders to Postpone Vote on Kavanaugh Pending Release of White House Emails on Surveillance Programs
Following the release of new information to EPIC in a FOIA lawsuit against the National Archives, EPIC has asked Senator McConnell and Senator Schumer to postpone a vote on the nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh. The documents obtained in EPIC v. NARA reveal that Judge Kavanaugh played a significant role in controversial White House surveillance programs that implicate the constitutional privacy rights of Americans. The Archives has now confirmed that there are hundreds of emails concerning Kavanaugh's role in such programs as warrantless wiretapping, the Patriot Act, "CAPPS II" (passenger profiling), and "Fusion centers" (government surveillance centers). Kavanaugh exchanged almost a dozen emails to John Yoo, whose legal memos on surveillance were later rescinded by the Office of Legal Counsel. EPIC wrote, "the Senate curtailed several of these programs that Brett Kavanaugh helped develop."