In EPIC Suit, National Archives Identifies Thousands of Kavanaugh E-mails on Surveillance Programs
In EPIC's Freedom of Information Act suit, the National Archives has now identified thousands of additional records concerning Justice Kavanaugh's role in controversial White House surveillance programs, including warrantless wiretapping and the Patriot Act. These programs were later suspended, curtailed, or modified by Congress. The agency completed its second search of e-mails on Wednesday, in response to EPIC's case, and found that Kavanaugh received 183 messages from John Yoo, the architect of the warrantless wiretapping program. The Archives also found 1,988 e-mails concerning Kavanaugh and "surveillance" programs and the "Patriot Act" and 754 e-mails concerning Kavanaugh "CAPPS II" (passenger profiling), "Fusion Centers" (government surveillance centers), and the Privacy Act. The National Archives will eventually release these records to the public as a result of EPIC's lawsuit. Prior to nomination hearing, EPIC had warned that Kavanaugh, both as a White House legal advisor and then as a federal appellate judge, showed little regard for the constitutional privacy rights of Americans.