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Clinton Library Releases Thousands More Documents on Kagan

The William J. Clinton Presidential Library on Friday released more than 41,000 pages of documents relating to Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan’s time in the former president’s administration, the second in a series of document dumps from the library expected before the start of Kagan’s confirmation hearings on June 28.

Friday’s release brings the total number of documents released by the library to some 87,000. The library has withheld a handful of documents from public viewing for a variety of reasons, and Republicans bristled Friday over that decision.

Senate Judiciary Ranking Member Jeff Sessions of Alabama said Friday in a statement that he is “concerned that so many of the documents already provided are being hidden from public view. In the first batch, approximately 200 pages were set aside by the Clinton Library as ‘Committee Confidential.’ Today, the public and the press have been denied access to another 1,351 pages of material.”

“Additionally, we have learned that another 500 pages of material are being withheld from both the Committee and the public alike,” he said.

Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), however, rejected those complaints.

“Any argument that the Committee does not have the materials necessary to evaluate this nomination is misguided and misplaced … With more than two weeks before the start of the confirmation hearing, the Archives has completed its review and production of her White House files and there is more than enough time for Senators and their staff to review them,” Leahy said in a statement.

“The Archives has now provided more than 87,000 pages of materials — more documents than were received from Archives for either the [Chief Justice John] Roberts or [Justice Samuel] Alito nominations, and earlier in the process. I thank the Archives staff for their diligence,” he added.

Kagan, who serves as President Barack Obama’s solicitor general, worked in the White House counsel’s office under Clinton.

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