Senator Feingold's Alito Prep List

18 January 2006

I have been following with great interest the nomination of Sam Alito to the Supreme Court and all stories surrounding it. There have been storied floating around the blogosphere about Sen. Graham participating in preparation team for the nominee. I have contacted Sen. Graham’s office about this and did not get a direct response, but as of late in the Charleston Post and Courier he has stated that he did indeed have a meeting with the nominee the Thursday before the hearings. According to Bill Moore, a political science professor at the College of Charleston, senators often meet with nominees prior to confirmation hearings. Graham's reason was to express concerns regarding the wiretaps and executive power. I think that this is exactly what we elect a senator to do, air our concerns with White House officials and the court nominee. I also have no problem with senators meeting with nominees becasue it is common practice.

This brings me to the hearings. Sen. Feingold received a list from the nominee listing those who prepared him for the hearings. I called Sen. Feingold’s office this morning (01/18/20060) to ask if Sen. Graham was on the list. The person that answered the phone at first said unequivocally yes. I asked if he had seen the list. He admitted he hadn’t. I asked how he knew that Sen. Graham was on the list and he said that it was his understanding that Graham was on the list. I demanded that the list be released so that the public could see who was and was not on the list. I also want a basis upon which to question Sen. Graham’s office, media reports are not good enough. I am a supporter and admirer of Sen. Graham, but more importantly I want to protect the nomination process and the Senate as an institution, as well as stopping any possibility of misunderstanding about the incident. This is important because most people, including a friend of mine, will just take the first response as gospel fact and question no further. It is time to either prevent a needless controversy or have the ethics committee investigate.

I ask that you as the watchdog of the public interest investigate this and get the list released so that the public has all necessary information. I am also asking this because I respect Sen. Feingold as tireless fighter for ethics in Government. Sen. Graham said this at the hearings. I just want to make sure all information is publicly available so noone gets criticized unfairly.

Thank you.