All 8 Democratic senators on the Judiciary Committee have requested documents concerning key cases litigated by the Solicitor General's office during Judge John Roberts' tenure as political deputy to then-Solicitor General Ken Starr. Late Friday afternoon the White House refused these senators' request.

There is no basis for this denial. Such documents have been released in previous Supreme Court confirmation proceedings,
including the Supreme Court confirmations of Robert Bork and William Rehnquist.

This action by the White House is an affront to our constitutional system of checks and balances and the senators' co-equal role in the appointment of lifetime judges.

The information about nominee Roberts' record that has already come out is very troubling. Given what we already know (listed in this email), one can only wonder what the White House is hiding.

That is why I am urging you to call your senators to tell them to stand up to the White House and fulfill their constitutional
duty - a duty which obligates them to make informed decisions about Supreme Court nominees:

Sen. C. Chambliss
Phone: (202) 224-3521 or (770) 763-9090
Sen. John Isakson
Phone: (202) 224-3643 or (404) 347-2202

Over 100,000 messages have been sent by you to the Senate asking them to demand full cooperation - and I thank you for letting them know how you feel. But the White House's action on Friday calls us to further action.

Call now. If you can't right now, please try to do it within the next 24 hours. We need to tell senators: "Get the documents you need to do your job!"