White House Warns Dems On Roberts Papers

The White House on Monday warned Democrats not to make extensive requests for Supreme Court nominee John Roberts' legal writings in previous Republican administrations, saying many such documents are "out of bounds."

Got something incriminating you need to hide from the public, George?

The following is an excerpt from an article that appeared yesterday on Yahoo! News.

White House Warns Dems on Roberts Papers

By JENNIFER LOVEN, Associated Press Writer
Mon Jul 25, 7:55 PM ET

WASHINGTON - The White House on Monday warned Democrats not to make extensive requests for Supreme Court nominee John Roberts' legal writings in previous Republican administrations, saying many such documents are "out of bounds."

Separately, the Supreme Court nominee waved off questions about whether he was a member of a conservative legal organization. Roberts, on his fourth day paying courtesy calls on senators, hasn't answered questions since
President Bush announced him — as is typical for nominees — and one Democratic senator said the matter wouldn't affect the confirmation.

With Bush's first chance to shape the Supreme Court at stake, the White House is hoping to avoid the kind of showdown with Democrats over document requests that has stymied Senate confirmation of some of the president's other high-profile nominees. Asked repeatedly to say whether the administration was open to making Roberts' writings as a former administration lawyer available, White House press secretary Scott McClellan avoided saying "no" outright.

"We want to work with the members of the Senate to make sure that they have the appropriate information so that they can do their job," McClellan said.

Click here to read the entire article from Yahoo! News.