Hearings quiet on fourth day

WASHINGTON — After coming to life yesterday, the confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito '72 fizzled this morning in the third and final round of questioning, with most of the issues — and a weary, dwindling press corps — appearing exhausted after roughly 18 hours of direct questioning over the past three days.

The committee vote, slated for Jan. 17, is expected to approve Alito largely along party lines. The full Senate would then consider Alito's nomination.

Opening today's hearings, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) said his staffers hadn't found any mention of Alito in the private papers of William Rusher '44, who helped found a controversial and conservative alumni group of which Alito was a member.

Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) demanded access to Rusher's private documents in hopes of shedding more light on the extent of Alito's participation in CAP, which has been portrayed by Democrats and other critics as a far-right organization that opposed coeducation and affirmative action.

The Senate staffers' findings confirm New York Times reporter David Kirkpatrick '92's previous report that Alito was not a founding member or significant contributor, and seemed to put a damper on questioning about CAP in today's hearings.

With public direct questioning over, the committee will question Alito this afternoon in an executive session closed to the public. According to tradition, Specter explained, the committee does this to flush out any issues senators feel uncomfortable addressing in public.

Today's lull follows yesterday's drama-filled questioning, during which Alito's answers to questions about his membership in Concerned Alumni of Princeton (CAP), among other issues, left many Democrats visibly frustrated.

Alito spent much of his time today reiterating and clarifying previous answers, and for their part, many senators staked out their positions on Alito's confirmation in their final minutes of question time.

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Many Democratic senators expressed their reservations about Alito, which haven't seemed to change much throughout the 18 hours of direct questioning. Among these reservations were Alito's belief in a strong or "unitary" executive and his membership in CAP — both of which Kennedy accused Alito of disingenuously distancing himself from in the hearings.

Kennedy likewise criticized Alito for failing "to give us any plausible explanation" for not recusing himself from a case that came before him as a judge involving the mutual fund company Vanguard. Alito held shares of Vanguard at the time and had earlier sworn under oath to recuse himself from any case involving a conflict of interest.

Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) stepped in to defend Alito, as he has several times throughout the hearings, countering Kennedy's charges and leading Alito through a series of generous questions.

"I really believe that bringing up Vanguard or the Princeton matter goes beyond the pale at this point in this hearing," Hatch said. "And I think most people think this is really a case of much ado about nothing."

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"The fact of the matter is you've been straightforward here, you've honestly answered the questions, you've answered more questions than almost any Supreme Court nominee in my 29 years in the Senate and I don't think you've been fairly treated," Hatch added.