WASHINGTON, April 27 (UPI) -- A White House nominee for the federal appeals court Tuesday denied involvement in the theft of Senate Democrat files by Republican staffers.
At a hearing on his nomination for a seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, Brett A. Kavanaugh denied having any knowledge of the downloading of files from the Senate Judiciary Committee's computer system related to Democrat plans to fight Bush judicial nominees prior to hearing media reports.
The Senate sergeant-at-arms concluded in a 65-page report released in March that two Republican staff aides had engaged in widespread, unauthorized and possibly illegal spying by reading the strategy memoranda of Democratic staff and members on the Judiciary Committee.
The two aides implicated in the affair have both left the Senate and the Justice Department has instructed a federal prosecutor to investigate the matter.
Currently President Bush's staff secretary, Kavanaugh was involved in pushing Bush's judicial nominees through Senate confirmation when he was a White House counsel.
During his testimony to the commitee, he was bombarded with questions on the subject from Democrats, who are expected to oppose his nomination.
