AP ignores Sessions' assertion that "[y]ou don't have to read everything [Alito has] written"

Written by Jocelyn Fong

Published

In reporting Sen. Mitch McConnell's call to delay Judge Sonia Sotomayor's confirmation hearing and Sen. Jeff Sessions' request for more information related to Sotomayor's judicial career, the AP did not note that Sessions urged fast action on Justice Samuel Alito's nomination, reportedly saying: “You don't have to read everything he's written.”

In a June 28 article on the confirmation process of Supreme Court nominee Judge Sonia Sotomayor, the Associated Press quoted Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) saying that the Senate Judiciary Committee “needs time to review 300 boxes of records that recently turned up in connection with [Sotomayor's] work for a legal advocacy group,” and reported that ranking member Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) “wrote to Sotomayor to request additional information related to her career as a lawyer, prosecutor and judge.” But the AP did not note that after former President Bush announced Justice Samuel Alito's nomination on October 31, 2005, Sessions reportedly said: “My personal view is, let's finish it this year; let's not have it hanging out there. ...You don't have to read everything he's written.”

The Philadelphia Inquirer reported on November 4, 2005:

In fact, [then-Republican Sen. Arlen] Specter [PA] was under quite a bit of pressure from his Republican colleagues to accede to the White House's wishes and to get Alito on the high court bench -- and [Justice Sandra Day] O'Connor off it -- as soon as possible.

Before the announcement, Sen. Jeff Sessions (R., Ala.) expressed impatience with the process.

“My personal view is, let's finish it this year; let's not have it hanging out there,” he said. “You don't have to read everything he's written.”

Several print outlets, including the AP, previously reported Sessions' call in early June to delay Sotomayor's confirmation hearing until the fall, without noting his reported comments about the Alito confirmation process.

From the June 28 AP article:

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said Sunday the committee preparing for hearings for Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor needs time to review 300 boxes of records that recently turned up in connection with her work for a legal advocacy group.

McConnell, R-Ky., said the Senate Judiciary Committee needs to examine the materials from the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund, now known as LatinoJustice PRLDEF. Hearings are scheduled to begin July 13 on President Barack Obama's nomination of Sotomayor, a federal appeals court judge.

[...]

On Friday, the top Republican on the Judiciary Committee, Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama, wrote to Sotomayor to request additional information related to her career as a lawyer, prosecutor and judge.

In the letter, Sessions noted that he had been in contact with counsel for the PRLDEF and that the group's archives contained more than 300 boxes of material that Sotomayor's representatives were searching in connection with her nomination.