Associated Press
WASHINGTON ? Sen. Edward Kennedy on Monday questioned what he said were Samuel Alito’s multiple explanations for not immediately disqualifying himself from a case involving the Vanguard companies, which handle his mutual fund investments.
Kennedy, D-Mass., said in a letter to the Supreme Court nominee: “You have given at least six different answers to the basic question of why you not only sat on the case, but presided, signed orders and joined an opinion upholding Vanguard’s position in that case.”
Kennedy will be one of 18 senators to question Alito at his Judiciary Committee confirmation hearings Jan. 9, and made clear that the Vanguard issue will come up.
White House spokesman Stephen Schmidt said: “It is increasingly clear that there is no answer that Judge Alito can give on this question that will satisfy senators like Chuck Schumer and Sen. Kennedy, who are making it increasingly clear that they intend to give no consideration to the nomination of Sam Alito and that they will vote against him the same way they voted against (now Chief Judge John) Roberts.”
Alito pledged in 1990 that he would recuse himself from cases involving the Vanguard companies. Alito’s liberal opponents say his participation in a 2002 Vanguard case raises doubts about the judge’s fitness for the Supreme Court.
Getting more information about the Vanguard case now would be “in the interest of a smoother and less confrontational confirmation process,” Kennedy said.
