On
May 5, the U.S. Judicial Conference in Washington received a request from a
Mike Rice of Oakland, Calif., for the financial disclosure records of U.S.
Appeals Court Judge Edith Jones (5th Circuit) of Houston. A 20-year veteran on
the bench, Jones is a perennial possibility for the U.S. Supreme Court. The
demand for her personal records is part of a major intelligence raid preceding
momentous confirmation fights in the Senate.
Jones was not alone as a target, and
Rice is not just a nosy citizen. He and Craig Varoga, a former aide to Senate
Minority Leader Harry Reid, are partners in a California political consulting
firm. Their May 5 petition requested financial information on 30 appellate
judges in all but one of the country's judicial circuits, including nine widely
mentioned Supreme Court possibilities. Varoga & Rice's client: NARAL
Pro-Choice America.
Nobody can recall any previous mass
request for such disclosures by federal judges. This intelligence raid is
financed by the abortion lobby, but it looks to Republicans like a front for
Reid and other senators who will consider President Bush's appointments for
Supreme Court nominations. But Reid told me that he had heard nothing about
this, adding: "It's ridiculous. What do we have Senate committees
for?"
Varoga, a former communications
director for Reid, was national field director for Gen. Wesley Clark's 2004
presidential campaign. While Rice bills himself as an "expert" on
"state public-records laws," his special field has been negative
research probing the background of political foes. Varoga & Rice promises
"public records research" that "can help you win elections,
contracts and lawsuits." But compiling financial profiles of judicial
nominees plows new ground.
Rice described himself as a
"public-records researcher" when he asked the Judicial Conference's
Financial Disclosure Committee for the financial statements of 30 judges. Rice
did not reveal he was acting as a paid agent of NARAL.
In addition to Judge Jones, papers
filed by Varoga & Rice asked for information from eight other appellate
judges who are considered possible Supreme Court candidates. They include the
veteran James Harvie Wilkinson, who has served on the 4th Circuit in
Charlottesville, Va., for 21 years. Other veteran judges targeted by Varoga
& Rice who were on the bench prior to this administration include Emilio
Garza (5th Circuit) of San Antonio, J. Michael Luttig (4th Circuit) of
Alexandria, Va., and Samuel Alito (3rd Circuit) of Philadelphia.
The other four possible Supreme
Court nominees whose records have been requested all reached the appellate
bench by George W. Bush's selection: Jeffrey Sutton (6th Circuit) of
Cincinnati; Michael McConnell (10th Circuit) of Salt Lake City; John Roberts
(D.C.) of Washington and Diane Sykes (7th Circuit) of Chicago.
One of the appellate judges who
learned that his financial records were sought by a Democratic political
consulting firm told a friend that he felt violated by this political
intrusion. He did not know that the firm's client was NARAL.
The abortion advocacy group surely
was not asking the judges' views on abortion. Nancy Keenan, who has been
NARAL's president some five months, told this column her organization is
concerned about "out of touch theological activists" becoming judges.
Why seek financial information from them? She said the disclosure information
might help identify the "character" of judicial nominees.
Which nominees? "We have lots
of nominees that we have great concern about," said Keenan. "We're
watching all of them."
What additional information about
sitting judges is being sought by Varoga & Rice is unknown. But Reid is
clearly into probing the detailed backgrounds of nominees. Asserting that
Democrats would probably filibuster Michigan appellate nominee Henry Saad, he
explained: "All one needs to do is have a member go upstairs and look at
his confidential report from the FBI, and I think we would all agree that there
is a problem there." The minority leader's statement shocked colleagues,
but it may well be a taste of much more of the same to come.
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