>> I will nominate Judge Brett Kavanaugh... >> NARRATOR: A Supreme Court face-off 30 years in the making... >> It is a system that has become toxic... >> When Bork got taken down they promised never to forget. >> It was raw politics. And it was war. >> NARRATOR: And behind the scenes one powerful Republican senator. >> Mitch McConnell is a tactical genius. >> ...not giving a lifetime appointment, to this President, on the way out the door... >> Unprecedented. >> Democrats are outraged... >> NARRATOR: Tonight on FRONTLINE... >> We're living in the era of the McConnell Court. >> NARRATOR: “Supreme Revenge.” ♪ ♪ >> It is my honor and privilege to announce that I will nominate Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the United States Supreme Court. (applause) >> Supreme Court showdown as Democrats are promising to fight President Trump... >> The battle is on-- Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh made the rounds... >> Now is the time to fight. >> Democrats have already come out in total opposition to... >> You don't belong in this building as a justice. >> Pay attention to this, guys. Pay attention. >> If he's confirmed, he'll be on the court for 25 to 30 years. That's six presidential terms. ♪ ♪ >> People on both sides of the aisle very quickly took positions on Judge Kavanaugh before they knew anything about him. (cameras clicking) >> I tell you, it was big drama. That room, there were more cameras, you could barely hear for the clicking whenever the judge would turn his head or, or make a motion that they wanted to capture. (cameras clicking) >> Good morning. I welcome everyone to this confirmation hearing on the nomination of Judge... >> Mr. Chairman. >> ...Brett Kavanaugh... >> Mr. Chairman. >> ...to serve as associate justice... >> Mr. Chairman... >> Grassley is, like, 13 words into his remarks when they start badgering him. >> You are out... you are out of order, I'll proceed. >> We cannot possibly move forward, Mr. Chairman, with this hearing... >> I extend a very warm welcome... >> We have not been given an... >> The Democrats had agreed that weekend that they should do this. >> Mr. Chairman, I appeal to the chair to recognize myself or one of my colleagues... (gavel banging) >> You're out of order. >> Mr. Chairman, I, I appeal to be recognized on your sense of decency and integrity... >> Mr. Chairman, if, if we cannot be recognized, I move to adjourn. >> The American people... >> Mr. Chairman, I move to adjourn. (protesters shouting) >> ... travesty of justice. This is a travesty of justice. We will not go back. Cancel Brett Kavanaugh, adjourn the hearing. >> We're here to say to be a hero! Be a hero... (inaudible) (protesters continue shouting) >> That's no way to conduct a hearing. I think that the process was not becoming of the United States Senate. >> But this is the first confirmation hearing for a Supreme Court justice I've seen basically according to mob rule. >> This is shaping up to be the hypocrisy hearing, and that's hard to do in the Senate. (protesters shouting) >> NARRATOR: It was only the first day of the Kavanaugh hearings. >> It was the epitome of a totally broken system. If Kennedy had been alive, or Heflin, or Specter had been watching the Kavanaugh hearings, we would have puked. >> A circus of protesters welcomed into the hearing room by the Democratic Party... >> NARRATOR: It looked like a product of the deep divisions in Washington today. >> Destroying civility and sowing chaos... >> NARRATOR: But it had been decades in the making. >> Senators who disrupt Supreme Court hearings? They might as well be in the audience with the protesters. >> NARRATOR: And behind the scenes, one powerful Republican senator, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. >> McConnell knows the game plan. One of the reasons he's as good at his job as it is is because he can play his own hand at cards and he can also play his opponent's hand at cards. He knows exactly what they're trying to do. >> NARRATOR: Out-maneuvering Democrats, confirming conservative judges were McConnell's specialties. Brett Kavanaugh would be his crowning achievement. (camera clicks) >> It's moving the court to a really very, very conservative court. That's McConnell's dream from the time he was first in the Senate, and maybe his dream when he went into politics. >> This is going to be a rough battle on Capitol Hill... >> NARRATOR: Mitch McConnell's determination to transform the Supreme Court had been his life's work. >> ...the dismay of several senators, U.S. Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas managed to... >> Potentially ensuring a conservative majority for decades... >> NARRATOR: Through bruising confirmation battles... >> ...Democrats to keep an open mind about Kavanaugh... >> NARRATOR: A struggle over ideology and power... >> ...White House has been packaging Clarence Thomas like a political candidate... >> ...expected to be one of the most contentious confirmation hearings in memory... >> NARRATOR: Ignited by a devastating defeat... >> ...rejecting the nomination of Judge Bork... >> ...Judge Bork, the long public ordeal... >> NARRATOR: And a promise to retaliate. >> The administration is marshaling all its resources for what may be the last great ideological battle of the Reagan presidency... >> ...of what could be one the great Supreme Court nomination fights of the century... >> NARRATOR: It started at the Reagan White House. >> ...conservative Judge Robert Bork... >> Some friends of mine from the White House Counsel's office called me and said, "It's happening now." So I jumped in a cab and came running over and managed to get through security and into the White House. It's very exciting, it was wonderful, I was, uh, uh... very proud of him. It was kind of, kind of moving to see that. >> It is with great pleasure and deep respect for his extraordinary abilities that I today announce my intention to nominate United States Court of Appeals Judge Robert H. Bork to be an associate justice of the Supreme Court. >> I thought, "Well, this man is an ideal person to be on the Supreme Court." >> Judge Bork, widely regarded as the most prominent and intellectually powerful advocate of judicial restraint... >> Bork was sort of the hallmark of ultra-conservative legal thought. This was going to dramatically change the court. It was going to change it in a far more conservative direction. >> NARRATOR: Reagan had already successfully appointed conservatives to a court he considered too liberal: Sandra Day O'Connor, William Rehnquist elevated to chief justice, Antonin Scalia. And now, with the retirement of Lewis Powell, Reagan could secure conservative control of the court. >> So this was an opportunity to really change the direction, not just for the next four years, but Republicans were hoping for the next 40 years. >> NARRATOR: Reagan's attorney general made a phone call to Capitol Hill. He wanted to alert one powerful Democratic senator. >> Senator Kennedy got a note that Attorney General Meese was calling for him. And he stepped out of the hearing into a phone booth and took the call. And, and Meese told him that it was going to be Bork. >> NARRATOR: Kennedy headed for the Senate chamber. To the liberal senator from Massachusetts, Bork was a dire threat. >> Everything that Bork had written and stood for meant that the civil rights and affirmative action push of the civil rights movement was in danger. >> ...and the senator from Massachusetts is recognized... >> NARRATOR: It had only been an hour since Reagan's announcement. Kennedy let the president and Bork know they were in for a fight. >> Mr. President, I oppose the nomination of Robert Bork to the Supreme Court, and I urge the Senate to reject it. >> And our staff said, "Hey, go hear what Kennedy is saying." So I went over. >> Robert Bork's America is a land in which women would be forced into back-alley abortions, blacks would sit at segregated lunch counters, rogue police could break down citizens' doors in midnight raids. >> Whoa, this sounds a little over the top. I knew Robert Bork, he'd been a professor of mine, and I liked the guy, but certainly my journalistic instinct was, "Okay, the fight's on, the fat's in the fire. This is really going to be something." >> No justice would be better than this injustice. I yield back the balance of my time. >> When he finished, there was just silence. I said, "What is all this (bleep)? What, what are you doing?" He said, "Just know that we'll have to destroy him." >> And we were watching this on TV as we were drinking champagne in the counsel's office. And I said, "Are you guys ready for this?" And they said, "Oh, yeah, don't worry about it." Well, they weren't ready. Nobody was ready. I don't think they had any clue what was coming. (protesters shouting) >> NARRATOR: What was coming was a full-on political assault led by liberal Democrats, with protests, phone banks, and attack ads. >> So you're using every technique and every tool at your disposal. And we'd never seen that before. >> This is Gregory Peck. Please, urge your senators to vote against the Bork nomination, because if Robert Bork wins a seat on the Supreme Court, it will be for life-- his life and yours. >> It was the first moment that you saw all-out war over a Supreme Court nominee. It was the first example of the politics of destruction of the modern era. >> The name and future of Robert Bork tops the agenda in Washington this morning. President Reagan's... >> And nowhere is the debate hotter than at the confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Robert Bork... >> This is a NBC News Special Report... >> NARRATOR: The judiciary committee hearings, led by the Democrats, were broadcast on national television. >> It is a momentous day in Washington D.C.... >> Judge Robert Bork began his battle for confirmation to the Supreme Court today. >> It was kind of tense. It was tense, it was TV lights-- very hot TV lights. There's a certain sense, when you're the family member, that there's absolutely nothing you can do. >> NARRATOR: It was a cast designed for classic television drama-- the attackers: Biden, Heflin, Metzenbaum, Leahy, and Kennedy. >> Judge Bork looks at Senator Kennedy and Senator Kennedy now recognizes him. >> I was glued to the television like everybody else. I was as smitten by all the television theatrical drama that, that everybody else was. >> NARRATOR: And there were the defenders-- conservative Republicans Simpson and Grassley. >> So the question was, "Okay, how is this guy going to present himself? What's going to be the drill?" >> ...many controversial statements he has made as a professor and a judge I've compiled... >> NARRATOR: For five days they clashed. >> Can you derive a right to an abortion from the Constitution? >> NARRATOR: They challenged Bork's views on controversial issues. >> Yesterday you said women and blacks who know your record do fear you. >> It was epic. I mean, they were discussing very serious things. >> Do we have a Constitutional right to speak recklessly? >> Busing and... >> ...were made in busing... >> ...law and order, privacy... >> Would we allow the police to search the sacred precincts of... >> ...abortion rights... >> ...the human rights bill, which would have changed Roe against Wade... >> ...rights to determine all kinds of personal autonomy. >> You do not believe that there is a general right of privacy that is in the Constitution? >> Not one derived in that... >> NARRATOR: Bork's advisers told him to be succinct, not lecture the senators. >> I'll be happy to answer the committee's questions. >> NARRATOR: He did not follow their instructions. >> Oh, no, oh, no, Senator. >> Well, let me, let me pick that strain up. >> All right, but I... But I'd like to get on the record right now that I don't feel very free to disregard what Congress decided, that the mere fact that a law is outrageous is not enough to make it unconstitutional. >> I didn't think it was going well. I just thought it was torture. You want to tap your dad on the shoulder and say, "I would say it this way." Um, can't do that. >> They have been hammering you with that thing for five days. >> NARRATOR: Near the end, in an effort to save him, Bork supporter Wyoming senator Alan Simpson asked him one last question. >> Why do you want to be an associate justice of the United States Supreme Court? >> NARRATOR: Many believe Bork's answer was the death knell of his nomination. >> I think it would be an intellectual feast. >> Some more bad news for Supreme Court nominee Judge Robert Bork... >> ...by telling the senators the first attraction of the Supreme Court is the intellectual pleasure of it. >> That seemed to be a big thing, "Oh, intellectual feast." Oh, well, what the hell, you know, but that's Washington. >> And instead of saying, "I want to do justice and show mercy and protect the rights of individuals," he says, "It'll be an intellectual feast." And most people said, "Who's the dinner?" (chuckles) >> Regular order will be followed. The clerk will continue calling the roll. >> Mr. Bumpers, no. Mr. Burdick. >> NARRATOR: Bork's candor had become a liability... >> Mr. Chaffee. >> NARRATOR: ...for Democrats and even some liberal Republicans. It was a resounding defeat for Bork and the conservative Republicans, 42 to 58. >> Mr. Cranston, no. Mr. Kennedy. Mr. Kennedy, no. >> The job was to cut this guy down. Get Bork. It's now in the dictionaries of the United States and, and the world, it's called "getting borked." >> ...senator from Kentucky. >> NARRATOR: It was a searing experience for first-term senator Mitch McConnell. Enraged, he took to the Senate floor. >> And so to Robert Bork, you happened to be the one who set the new Senate standard that will be applied, in my judgment, by a majority of the Senate prospectively. Unfortunately, it got set over your dead body, so to speak, politically. >> NARRATOR: McConnell threatened that he and his Republican colleagues would use the same tactics when it mattered. >> We're going to do it when we want to. And when we want to is going to be when the president, whoever he may be, sends up somebody we don't like. >> He'll be darned if he's going to allow them to just get away with taking somebody out without paying a price for it later on down the road. >> And if we don't like the philosophical leaning of the nominee... >> NARRATOR: It was a promise of revenge, a warning of what could happen if Republicans took control. >> The danger of that approach, of course... ♪ ♪ (crowd cheering and applauding) >> NARRATOR: The next year. The sustained applause is from members of a new conservative legal group, the Federalist Society. It is for their hero, Robert Bork. >> When Bork got taken down, you know, their attitude, I think, became "never again." And this was something that they promised never to forget, never to forgive. Absolutely energizing. >> I have known less friendly gatherings. (audience laughs) >> The forces for Bork who suffered that very painful defeat didn't give up, didn't go home to sulk. They went underground and built an infrastructure to create a new reality for our judicial politics. >> The battle's not over. I intend to be in it, and I know you do, too. Thank you. (audience applauds) >> NARRATOR: The Federalist Society was started as a student group in 1981, with Bork at Yale and Antonin Scalia at the University of Chicago as the faculty advisers. Ted Olson spoke at their first convention. >> These were students that had been unhappy with the fact that they felt that their law school education was tilted so strongly to the left, that they were not hearing opposing views. >> NARRATOR: Abortion. Busing. Protections for criminals. Gay rights. The Federalist Society founders thought the courts had gone too far to the left. >> For years, for decades, the left, as we call them, progressives, a lot in the Democrat Party, were getting a lot of their agenda passed through the courts. >> NARRATOR: What began as a student group quickly grew, first as a job network, then a pool of prospective judges, supported by powerful conservative donors. >> The Olin Foundation in particular, the Bradley Foundation. There's this handful, this cluster of far-right foundations with tons of old money in them. And they start to nurture the Federalist Society. >> ...many members of the Federalist Society... >> NARRATOR: During Reagan's presidency, more than half the political appointees of the Justice Department had ties to the Federalist Society, as did all 12 assistant attorney generals. >> I have an acronym that I use when I think about the Federalist Society. What's the main idea, M-A-I-N, right? Money, access, ideas, and network. And they were very successful on all those fronts. (fife and drum music playing) >> NARRATOR: Within ten years, they had built 120 chapters, 3,000 members with a budget of $700,000. (music continues) >> Thurgood Marshall, a man who played a pivotal role in the redefinition of justice in America, is leaving... >> NARRATOR: When the nation's first African-American justice, Thurgood Marshall, retired, it was a pivotal moment for Senator Mitch McConnell and the Federalist Society, an opportunity to replace a liberal justice with a conservative. >> ...Washington rumor mill has gone into overdrive this morning... >> NARRATOR: Members of the Federalist Society had gone to work searching for a nominee, scouring lists of conservative lawyers, judges... One name stood out: Clarence Thomas, an African-American appeals court judge. >> ...that I will nominate Judge Clarence Thomas to serve as associate justice of the United States Supreme Court. >> NARRATOR: The White House was determined that Clarence Thomas was not going to be borked. >> The individuals in the George H.W. Bush administration knew what was coming. They remembered vividly what had happened with Robert Bork. >> Clarence Thomas could not have been prepared for the mob of still photographers... >> NARRATOR: The Republicans built a war room. They prepped Thomas. >> Senate hearings began on the Supreme Court nomination of... >> NARRATOR: They warned him it could get ugly. >> Clarence Thomas, a black conservative originally from... >> NARRATOR: Once again, the proceedings would be a television event, here in the room where the Bork hearings captivated Americans. >> ...see Judge Thomas now with the chairman of the Judiciary Committee... >> NARRATOR: The cast was familiar-- Biden, Kennedy, Simpson, Metzenbaum, Heflin. >> But we don't know how he's going to comport himself... >> NARRATOR: This time, the Republicans had an advantage. It would be hard for the Democrats to forcefully take on an African-American nominee. >> Politically, they were in a very difficult position. It's very difficult to attack an African-American judge, and they wanted to befriend him, not attack him. (gavel banging) >> The hearing will come to order. Good morning, Judge. Welcome to the blinding lights. It's a pleasure to, to have you here. >> Polls initially showed that most Americans wanted Clarence Thomas on the Supreme Court, which caused some of the senators, particularly the Democrats, to try to go easy initially. >> Heck, you're six, seven years younger than... I'm 48. How old are you, Judge, 42, 43? >> Well, I've aged over the last ten weeks, but, uh... (audience laughing) I'm 43. >> 43 years old. >> NARRATOR: Thomas' White House handlers, sitting behind him, waited for the Democrats' questions. >> He was advised-- I know this-- to be very careful, to be very modest. They're going to ask you about every controversial issue that has ever come before the Supreme Court. >> ...in the area of civil rights... >> NARRATOR: Unlike Bork, Thomas wouldn't be so candid. >> ...I don't remember or recall participating... >> He was like a steady brick wall. He just wasn't going to answer anything, and, and he didn't. >> I think that to take a position would undermine my ability to be impartial. >> Say as little as possible. Disavow any idea that you ever had. Present yourself as a blank slate, and that's the only way to win. >> What I am trying to do, Senator, is to respond to your question and at the same time not offer a particular view on this difficult issue of abortion... >> It was going to work. He was squeaking through. >> President Bush said he has no doubt Clarence Thomas will be confirmed... >> Confirmation hearings continue this morning in Washington for Clarence Thomas... >> NARRATOR: It had been eight days of hearings. The committee would soon vote. >> If Clarence Thomas is confirmed to the Supreme Court, his nomination is certainly the most controversial since Robert Bork's... >> NARRATOR: But National Public Radio reporter Nina Totenberg heard something unusual. >> Biden says something about, "People have tried to smear you with personal allegations." >> I believe there are certain things that are not at issue at all. And that is his character, or characterization of his character. >> NARRATOR: Totenberg was surprised. No issues of character had been raised during the hearings. >> And so I just started kicking tires, and I managed to get stuff. >> NARRATOR: She discovered a secret-- allegations of sexual harassment by Clarence Thomas. >> And pretty soon, I had Anita Hill's name, and I called her up. >> NARRATOR: Anita Hill had worked with Thomas at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. >> According to Hill's affidavit, Thomas talked about pornographic materials depicting individuals with large penises or breasts involved in various sex acts. >> Here is a person who is in charge of protecting rights of women. He is also really violating the laws that he's there to enforce. >> It was just a giant explosion. I, I... (laughs) I mean, I walked up to Capitol Hill... (makes explosion sound) It was like a mushroom cloud. >> Good evening. We begin tonight with the potential for political explosion on Capitol Hill. >> Clarence Thomas ran into trouble today... >> Questions are growing over charges of sexual harassment against Thomas... >> NARRATOR: As the story broke, Senator Mitch McConnell rushed to the Senate floor. >> As soon as the president announced his choice, the special interest groups lined up their firing squad and vowed to bork him and to kill him politically. The process is being hijacked... >> NARRATOR: McConnell saw the allegations against Thomas as yet another liberal takedown. >> McConnell understands implication and consequence better than any United States senator. When you vote on legislation in the House and Senate, you're playing for the next election. When you put in a judge, you're playing for the next generation. >> The sexual harassment storm around Clarence Thomas is intensifying. >> NARRATOR: Now McConnell would watch as Anita Hill threatened to derail Thomas' nomination. >> Tom, the stage is set for what everyone anticipates will be a brutal hearing. (gavel banging) >> Professor, do you swear to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help you God? >> I do. >> Thank you. >> It was incredibly compelling television. You know, she was gorgeous, composed, obviously projecting sincerity. >> On other occasions, he referred to the size of his own penis as being larger than normal and he also spoke on some occasions of the pleasures he had given to women... with oral sex. >> You could not take your eyes off this thing. You couldn't believe that people were accusing each other of these things. And, and the Senate had probably never heard language like this before. >> NARRATOR: The Republicans had watched Bork attacked for his ideology. Now it was Thomas's character that was under assault, and they would go all out to defend their nominee. >> My purpose is to find out what happened. >> NARRATOR: Senator Arlen Specter led the charge. >> I find the references to the alleged sexual harassment not only unbelievable, but preposterous. >> NARRATOR: He cast doubt on her memory. >> How reliable is your testimony on events that occurred eight, ten years ago... >> NARRATOR: He suggested she was exaggerating. >> You took it to mean that Judge Thomas wanted to have sex with you, but in fact, he never did ask you to have sex, correct? >> No, he did not ask me to have sex. >> But that was an inference that you drew? >> Yes, yes. >> She stood between Clarence Thomas and the Supreme Court. They had to destroy her in order to get him confirmed. If what she was saying was true, he had lied under oath. >> Without objection, it will be placed in the record. Again, I thank your family, thank you. Adjourned until 9:00. (gavel bangs) >> All America had its television sets tuned to the U.S. Senate... >> Nothing like what happened today has ever happened before... >> Washington, DC, a city disgusted by the gutter politics played out on Capitol Hill. >> NARRATOR: But it wasn't over. Inside the Senate offices, Clarence Thomas prepared to answer Anita Hill's allegations. Senator Alan Simpson was in the room. >> We, we sat with Thomas. And I told him my theory of political life: An attack unanswered is an attack believed. Not only that, but agreed to. And he was teary. But I said, "You must have something to say." He said, "I do." He said, "I really do have something to say." >> This is a circus. It's a national disgrace. And as far as I'm concerned, it is a high-tech lynching for uppity blacks who in any way deign to think for themselves, to do for themselves, to have different ideas. >> I remember sitting behind a senator and hearing that and just feeling like a bomb had gone off in the room. And it sucked all the oxygen out of the room. >> And it is a message that unless you kowtow to an old order, this is what will happen to you. You will be lynched, destroyed, caricatured by a committee of the U.S., U.S. Senate rather than hung from a tree. >> The question is on the confirmation of the nomination of Clarence Thomas of Georgia. The clerk will call the roll. >> Up to Robert Bork, there was a sense of civility to this, that you could disagree without destroying. Robert Bork changed that, and Clarence Thomas confirmed it. And with the Clarence Thomas nomination, everybody was watching. >> This vote, the yeas are 52 and the nays are 48. The nomination of Clarence Thomas of Georgia is hereby confirmed. >> NARRATOR: Clarence Thomas was 43 years old. He vowed to stay on the court for 43 more years. ♪ ♪ In the years after Thomas' confirmation, McConnell watched as Democratic and Republican presidents tried to tip the balance of the court. >> President Clinton today nominated Ruth Bader Ginsburg... >> NARRATOR: With Republicans in the minority, Bill Clinton placed Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer on the bench. >> ...the president sent Congress the name of his nominee to fill the seat... >> NARRATOR: George W. Bush, with a Republican Senate, put John Roberts and Samuel Alito on the court. >> Barack Obama is projected to be the next... >> NARRATOR: With Democrats back in control, Barack Obama appointed Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan. >> Still, many Republicans are asking if she's the right person for the job... >> NARRATOR: Through it all, McConnell had been climbing to power inside the Senate. Majority whip. Republican leader. And finally, majority leader. >> There's nobody who's more focused on political conquest than he is. There may not have been anybody who has spent his entire life calculating. He knows more than everybody else. It was how much he could win and how much power he could achieve. >> NARRATOR: McConnell had real power, and still holding on to that grievance about what happened to Robert Bork, he waited for the right moment to use it. >> This is CNN Breaking News... >> Breaking news just in to us here at CNN. United States Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia has died. >> Scalia is found dead in his, in his bed one day. And what to do in this... in this moment of crisis becomes probably the defining moment of, of Mitch McConnell's career. >> ...and breaking news, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin... >> NARRATOR: McConnell immediately understood the political implications of Scalia's death. >> The stakes are enormous, because if you replace Scalia with a... an Obama appointee, then you probably have five justices on the court that are going to move the court in a much more progressive direction. >> With that vacancy, the question is, will a Republican-controlled Senate... >> NARRATOR: President Barack Obama's replacement would give Democrats a five-justice majority on the court. >> Mitch McConnell doesn't even wait for the day to end after Antonin Scalia dies to put out a statement saying, in effect, "We're not going to let President Obama replace him." >> Majority Leader Mitch McConnell just releasing a statement... >> ...this vacancy should not be filled until we have a new president. >> "It doesn't matter if you name anybody or not, I'm... We're not considering anybody because it's too close to the election." >> How shocking was that to you? >> It was amazing to me. I mean, they can say, "Oh there's precedent." This was unprecedented. >> Four-and-a-half weeks after Justice Scalia died, today President Obama... >> Friendly crowd in the Rose Garden there as President Obama nominates Merrick Garland... >> NARRATOR: Undeterred by McConnell, President Obama would forge ahead. >> Today, I am nominating Chief Judge Merrick Brian Garland to join the Supreme Court. (audience applauds) >> President Obama was trying to nominate somebody who was going to be confirmed. I thought, you know, how could members of the Senate, with their bare faces hanging out, stop this very appealing nominee about whom, really, not a bad word could be said? >> Thank you, Mr. President. This is the greatest honor of my life... (voice breaking): Other than Lynn agreeing to marry me 28 years ago. >> Here is a man of distinguished education, distinguished background. This is the kind of person that should be on the Supreme Court. And if it's Obama who's president, I was thrilled that he was appointing someone like Merrick Garland. >> Five Republican senators have agreed to talk... >> A handful of Republicans to break ranks, including some facing tough re-election bids... >> NARRATOR: McConnell had a mini-revolt on his hands. >> I met with Merrick Garland. I liked him. He's a person who would have gotten 98 votes or 100 votes in the 1990s, just a few years before. >> ...blasting his party's leadership for stonewalling the nomination process... >> To not even allow the Judiciary Committee to hold a hearing on his nomination just did not sit right with me. >> Mitch McConnell joins us now from Capitol Hill. Senator, thanks for being here. >> NARRATOR: He fought back, hitting the airwaves. >> The right-of-center world does not want this vacancy filled by this president. We're not giving a lifetime appointment to this president on the way out the door, to change the Supreme Court for the next 25 or 30 years. >> Senator Moran from Kansas said he thought maybe there should be a hearing. And McConnell just said to him, "You keep talking like that, and I'm running a primary opponent against you," and Moran backed off. McConnell was ruthless and brilliant. >> NARRATOR: McConnell kept the Republicans in line. There would be no hearings, no votes, no consideration of Judge Garland. >> The one thing that I've learned about Mitch is, if he says this is the way it is, that's the way it is. >> (chuckles) I don't ever question McConnell. I mean, I worked with him-- you don't want to mess with McConnell. >> Democrats are outraged by Senate Majority Leader... >> NARRATOR: Mitch McConnell had done what had never been done-- he'd blocked any consideration of a Supreme Court nominee. >> ...said he didn't want to waste Garland's time, quote, with unnecessary political routines... >> NARRATOR: In the years since Bork, McConnell's ally, the Federalist Society, had become one of the most powerful forces in Washington. >> The scale and scope was fantastic. They get into more and more law schools until they have a chapter in every law school in the country. They have a lawyers' chapter in all the major cities. They're vetting all the nominees for federal judgeships. >> NARRATOR: Their revenue had grown to more than $26 million. There were now over 60,000 members. >> The numbers are enormous. The money is enormous. And every important conservative jurist is a member, all the conservative members of the Supreme Court and the rest of the courts on down through America. >> NARRATOR: But in 2016, as McConnell blocked Merrick Garland, the Federalist Society and the Republicans had a problem. >> We are led by very, very stupid people. >> NARRATOR: They were worried about the Republican presidential nominee, Donald Trump. >> Drain the swamp! Drain the swamp! >> But Donald Trump came out of nowhere to win the primary. He beat me and everybody else. But he was not a Republican in the sense that most of us understand the word to be. Bottom line, his judicial philosophy, what he saw to be a conservative judge, was unknown. >> NARRATOR: McConnell had a plan. He knew a lawyer, Don McGahn, who was in the Federalist Society and worked for the Trump campaign. >> He's known Don for many years. And they had a mutual trust. They understand where each other are on issues that they are extremely concerned about. >> NARRATOR: They told Trump that promising to appoint Federalist judges would help him win over conservatives. >> Leader McConnell asked the president at that point, and I think Don McGahn was part of those conversations, to begin putting out a list that he would make public. (horn honks) >> NARRATOR: Candidate Trump liked the idea of a list. He attended a meeting with the heads of the Federalist Society and the conservative Heritage Foundation. >> He was very open about what he wanted to do. And he said he wanted a list. He said, "Can anyone get one?" And I just raised my hand. "Yes, sir." And he said, "Can you have it by Thursday?" We got the president a list of judges, and that's the Federalist Society's business. >> He outsourced this, essentially, to these two organizations. He had no understanding of who these people were. But when presented with it and when made clear that, "This will help you politically, this will shore up your base," he said, "We got to do it." >> A lot of people are, like, a little bit worried about which judges. I'm going to submit a list of justices of the United States Supreme Court that I will appoint from the list. >> That list, that was a massive seller, which is, hey, you may hate Trump, you may not trust him, but it's got to be this ten. And I don't think he'd be president without that list. >> NARRATOR: McConnell had helped Trump get elected and he'd held open Scalia's seat, paving the way for the nomination of Federalist Society favorite Neil Gorsuch. Then, a year later, another opportunity. >> ...monumental moment... >> NARRATOR: Veteran Justice Anthony Kennedy unexpectedly resigned. >> Kennedy really was the middle of the court. So it's, it's a really serious moment, the most serious moment in the balance of the court, really, since even before Bork. >> NARRATOR: Mitch McConnell understood the stakes. Kennedy's replacement could lock up conservative control of the court. >> President Trump's pick is in for the next Supreme Court nominee... >> Brett Kavanaugh to replace retiring... >> NARRATOR: McConnell, Trump, and the Federalist Society again swung into action. The president nominated Judge Brett Kavanaugh, who had joined the Federalist Society at Yale Law School. >> Kavanaugh is the perfect McConnell nominee. He's very conservative on economic issues, on executive power issues. He's the perfect blending of establishment and sort of red-state-based politics. (gavel banging) >> NARRATOR: At the confirmation hearings, the Democrats immediately put up a fight. >> Mr. Chairman, I'd like to be recognized to ask a question. >> Mr. Chairman, it's a pending motion... >> If we don't even know what the rules are, how can we... >> I'd like to respond to... >> Mr. Chairman... >> Mr. Chairman, we waited for more than a year with a vacancy on the Supreme Court. The treatment was shabby of Merrick Garland, President Obama's nominee... >> Democrats are really mad about Garland that happened in 2016, very recent history. >> People see through this. >> Republicans are still mad about Bork. >> To my friends on the other side, you can't lose the election and pick judges. If you want to pick judges, you better win. >> This stuff is now intensely polarized and super-partisan. (gavel banging) >> NARRATOR: And as the Republican-led hearings got under way, Brett Kavanaugh would follow the Clarence Thomas playbook. >> I can't give you an answer on that hypothetical question. Senator, that sounds like a hypothetical, I... >> NARRATOR: He wouldn't engage. >> ...that's the hypothetical that you're asking me... Senator, I think that hypothetical that you're asking is... ...a hypothetical that, uh, about any statute that you're asking me... >> NARRATOR: From his office, McConnell watched the hearings. It all seemed to be going smoothly. >> What you fear is the unknown. You don't know what you don't know. And if there is something out there, some bombshell to drop, or some way of captivating media attention, then you could have problems. >> Dropping a bombshell exactly one week before the committee is set to vote... >> And then you begin to see the newspapers' vague references to anonymous allegations that had been lodged against Brett Kavanaugh about his conduct. >> An allegation from his... >> NARRATOR: The allegation-- sexual assault. >> Word of her leaks out without her name at first, and then when there's, the news breaks, just like with Anita Hill, her name is leaked. >> Her name is Christine Blasey Ford. >> The woman's name is Christine Blasey Ford. >> Christine Blasey Ford... >> NARRATOR: McConnell wouldn't back down from the coming fight. >> I think he was furious. You know, this was the torpedo that he dreaded. >> Christine Blasey Ford described Kavanaugh as stumbling drunk... >> NARRATOR: He was worried about losing the Senate in the upcoming midterms. He had to get Kavanaugh confirmed fast. >> You know, those words of McConnell, "You will rue the day," back in the Bork fight? Those equally applied to him if he lost the Kavanaugh fight, because the Democrats, if they controlled the Senate after this election, he would rue the day of what he'd done in Garland. >> NARRATOR: McConnell launched a counterattack. >> Senate Democrats and their allies are trying to destroy a man's personal and professional life on the basis of decades-old allegations... >> NARRATOR: Bork. Thomas. Now Kavanaugh. The fight for the court had become personal. McConnell blamed the Democrats. >> Democrats wouldn't let a few inconvenient things get between them and a good smear. It's despicable. >> He's never faced a fight like this. He never faced one where he could go, go down like this. And it was right there on the razor's edge. ♪ ♪ >> Just moments away now from the historic testimony of Christine Blasey Ford before the Senate. >> Dr. Ford has arrived here on Capitol Hill to testify in public for the first time. >> It will certainly be an historic day on Capitol Hill. >> Remember, nobody had seen her and nobody had heard from her. Not even the senators. So it was a total surprise. >> (voice shaking): I am here today not because I want to be. I am terrified. I am here because I believe it is my civic duty to tell you what happened to me while Brett Kavanaugh and I were in high school. >> When you realized how genuinely terrified she was to be there, it shocked a lot of the older, longer-serving senators, that once again, this issue was being brought into the public sphere. >> (voice breaking): I believed he was going to rape me. I tried to yell for help. When I did, Brett put his hand over my mouth to stop me from yelling. This is what terrified me the most, and has had the most lasting impact on my life. It was hard for me to breathe, and I thought that Brett was accidentally going to kill me. >> It was, of course, a larger-than-life moment. Christine Blasey Ford had to go before the eyes of a nation and the world. >> I thought she was enormously courageous, enormously persuasive. >> She was very polite and just looked dead honest. >> It was a huge burden on her to come forward. >> It was impossible not to be riveted with her testimony. She was compelling. >> NARRATOR: Some of the senators that day had also been at the Clarence Thomas hearings. Patrick Leahy was one. >> When Dr. Ford testified, I asked her, "What do you remember of that incident?" And I think everybody in that hearing remembers her answer. >> The laughter, the laugh-- the uproarious laughter between the two, and they're having fun at my expense. I was, you know, underneath one of them while the two laughed, two friends having a really good time with one another. >> NARRATOR: It looked bad for Brett Kavanaugh and the Republicans. >> This is over, this was devastating. >> I believe those who wanted to believe her did. >> The mood among Republicans on the Hill was one of gloom. >> We had a meeting right after her testimony. And I could tell that my colleagues were moved and they were saying, you know, "He'd better be good. He'd better have an answer, because she sounds very credible." >> The worst-case scenario for Kavanaugh and his defenders was what just transpired. >> NARRATOR: At the White House, the president of the United States had also been watching. >> Both the president and Leader McConnell found her testimony to be incredibly compelling. >> I was in the White House the entire day, including watching the testimony of both Ford and Kavanaugh. The president watched it live. And the president and I have both said, each of us have said publicly, she gave, she rendered compelling testimony. >> NARRATOR: The president picked up the phone. On the other end-- Mitch McConnell. >> Both of them are kind of testing each other a little bit. "Where are you at on this?" You know, "How strong are you?" And McConnell basically says to the president, "You don't worry about me. I'm strong as mule piss." That's his quote. "I'm strong as mule piss." In other words, he's not going to let up, he's not going to give up, he's not going to surrender. ♪ ♪ >> To say that everything that could have gone wrong for Brett Kavanaugh has is an understatement. >> The impetus is on Judge Kavanaugh. They did not have the votes in the Senate... >> Do not underestimate the importance of the next few hours for Brett Kavanaugh. >> At some point, if you poke a stick and you torment that person and you attack that person, at some point, that individual's going to fight back. >> I categorically and unequivocally deny the allegation against me by Dr. Ford. I never had any sexual or physical encounter of any kind with Dr. Ford. >> It was like watching Clarence Thomas all over again. This was another version of the "high-tech lynching." >> This confirmation process has become a national disgrace. But you have replaced advice and consent with search and destroy. >> NARRATOR: Clarence Thomas had invoked race. Now Brett Kavanaugh launched a partisan attack on the Democrats. >> This whole two-week effort has been a calculated and orchestrated political hit fueled with apparent pent-up anger about President Trump, revenge on behalf of the Clintons, and millions of dollars in money from outside left-wing opposition groups. >> It has become this completely politicized drama. He took the allegations away from Christine Blasey Ford and turned it into a huge fight between Democrats and Republicans. He's trying to rally all the Republicans to his side. >> NARRATOR: Kavanaugh had become a combatant in the war between Republicans and Democrats. >> Does this reflect what you are? Does this yearbook reflect your focus on... >> NARRATOR: They squared off over his high school yearbook. >> That's easy, yes or no, you don't have to filibuster... >> NARRATOR: And his drinking. >> Oh, no, no, no, no, no, you got this up, I'm going to, I'm going to talk about my high school... No, no, I'm going to talk... >> Let him answer! >> I'm going to talk about my high school record if you're going to sit here and mock me. >> Did it relate to alcohol? You haven't answered that. >> I like beer, I like beer. I don't know if you do... Do you like beer, Senator? >> The quote that jumped out at me was, "Brett was a sloppy drunk, and I know because I drank with him." >> That July 1 reference to "skis," "Went over for skis," that's "brewskis," correct? >> And after Tobin... >> Sir, sir, I just need a yes or no-- that, "brewskis," right? >> Well, I need to explain context. >> You just said, sir, that you drank on weekdays. That's all I was looking for. >> You're saying there's never been a case where you drank so much that you didn't remember what happened the night before or part of what happened. >> It's, you're asking about, yeah, blackout, I don't know, have you? >> Could you answer the question, Judge? I just... so, you... that's not happened. Is that your answer? >> Yeah, and I'm curious if you have. >> I have no drinking problem, Judge. >> Yeah, nor do I. >> Okay, thank you. >> Senator Graham. >> NARRATOR: On the Republican side, Lindsey Graham led the fight. >> This is the most unethical sham since I've been in politics. Boy, you all want power. God, I hope you never get it. I hope the American people can see through this sham. God, I hate to say it because these have been my friends, but let me tell you, when it comes to this, you're looking for a fair process? You came to the wrong town at the wrong time, my friend. This is not a job interview. This is hell. >> Is this... >> This is going to destroy the ability of good people to come forward because of this crap. Your high school yearbook! >> It serves to rally Republicans and make it an us- versus-them kind of issue. And if it's an us-versus-them kind of issue, when you have the majority, that's what you want. >> The clerk will call the roll. >> Mr. Cruz. Mrs. Ernst. Mr. Flake. Mr. Gardner. Ms. Duckworth. >> NARRATOR: With McConnell's Republicans almost entirely in line... >> Mr. Toomey. >> NARRATOR: Brett Kavanaugh was confirmed. >> Mr. Udall. >> Our friends in the United States Senate, on both sides, created that environment. >> Mr. Warner. >> And now we have to live with it. >> Ms. Warren. >> And the problem is, we can't. >> Mr. Whitehouse. >> And the biggest tragedy is that we are now hopelessly divided on the last thing that used to unite us, which is our judicial system. Now there's nothing that pulls us together. Nothing. >> NARRATOR: Kavanaugh, Gorsuch, Thomas, Alito, Roberts-- the Federalist Society and Mitch McConnell now dominate the Supreme Court. >> You talk about the Warren Court or the Burger Court or the Roberts Court, we're living in the era of the McConnell Court now because he did what he did. And it very well could be the McConnell Court for several decades to come. >> Clarence Thomas doesn't want to serve on the High Court anymore. >> Clarence Thomas comfortable retiring now, and there's a couple of others... >> Surgeons today removed two malignant nodules from Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's left lung. >> The 85 year old is said to have fractured three ribs... >> RBG's health has become the subject of much attention in recent years... Captioned by Media Access Group at WGBH access.wgbh.org >> For more on this and other "Frontline" programs, visit our website at pbs.org/frontline. ♪ ♪ To order "Frontline's" "Supreme Revenge" on DVD visit ShopPBS, or call 1-800-PLAY-PBS. This program is also available on Amazon Prime Video. ♪ ♪
The problem is much larger than any “30 year old grievance”. The actual problem is a fundamental rot of democratic values. You know your democracy is fucked the day you have to worry about who sits on a court.
Just a quick reminder, when Nixon wanted to fire the special prosecutor who was about to nail him for obstruction of justice, both the Attorney General and Deputy Attorney General refused to do such a blatantly illegal act and resigned in protest. That left the 3rd most senior DOJ official, who immediately fired the special prosecutor. That official? Robert Bork.
And I thought I was a pessimist.
The take away from this isn’t that the Republicans have a grievance, it’s that after their lost with Bork they changed political strategies. They created the Federalist Society and began working on ways to control all the state federal courts and The United States Supreme Court. They understand the importance of court decisions and ensuring that the country will have decades of conservative outcomes.
It’s all but certain that a new judge will be confirmed in the next few weeks. An opportunity like this is a perfect scenario for the Republicans. It also means there’s probably a 90% chance Trump will win and the Republicans will get a majority in the House and Senate. If any county or state isn’t a landslide victory it will go before a federal judge or the Supreme Court. So Mitch may see his one party system very soon.
So everyone needs to vote, and they need to get others to vote.
Documentaries like this show how the Republicans have been working for a one party system over the duration of the last 40 years. Most people don’t notice it because the media jumps from one new cycle to another and fails to show how all previous events tie together.
Yep. It started with Bork.
It started with Nixon.
Impeachment (or the threat of it) would have never happened without Republican support in Congress.
What the Republican Congressman who supported it got was tossed out of office in the next election cycle. The GOP has never forgotten that.
They went against the sitting President, and the American people didn't reward their honesty and commitment to justice. They were simply lumped in with Nixon and voted out.
That is when the GOP learned to compromise when they have to, but to march it right down when they can. When Mitch pushes the new nominee through, the Democrats may finally learn how the game is played.
So democrats started this shit? Not surprised.