The American Spectator

p> STEALTH PAYBACK br> Sources on both sides of the Senate aisle say that, her denials aside, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton was at the very least the most influential voice in sending the D.C. Circuit Court nomination of White House adviser Brett Kavanaugh back to the desk of President Bush. /p>

“She has had a hold on his nomination in the past,” says a Senate Democratic leadership source. “At the time that Senator Frist asked that the nomination be extended, I don’t know that it was her hold, but she surely had influence over the decision. Everyone on our side knows why she was less than thrilled with Kavanaugh as a nominee.”

Another Democratic staffer says that his boss, a Democratic Senator from a Western state, told staff that it was a “Hillary Hold” or objection that killed the Kavanaugh nomination. A Republican Senate staffer also confirmed that that her boss had confirmed Senator Clinton’s involvement in the Kavanaugh nomination’s death.

The reason for Hillary’s hostility, of course, is Kavanaugh’s former role as a deputy to former Clinton Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr. Kavanaugh’s nomination has been stalled for years; at times Democrats have complained that he was too young for the D.C. Circuit, or pointed to his political past. But in the end, it was Clinton’s holds and passive aggressive stance on the nominee that kept Democrats opposed.

Republican sources say that they do not know who had the final hold on Kavanaugh, or who raised final objections to Kavanaugh, though one knowledgeable GOP source says that Republican Senators on the Judiciary Committee discussed the nomination’s failure, with one member saying that he was certain that it was Clinton’s hold based on conversations with Democratic colleagues.

“If it wasn’t her hold, it was a hold placed on Brett at her or her staff’s behest. You can split hairs over just whose name is on the slip, but when it comes down to it, the Democrats in the Senate believe this is a hold that Senator Clinton wants and supports wholeheartedly,” says a Democratic staffer on the Judiciary Committee. “This was a team thing, like a lot of the holds have been.”

In fact, Democrats have increasingly been turning to so-called “rolling holds” on nominations as a strategy to stall nominations and relieve pressure from being placed on a single member of the caucus from outside groups lobbying on the nominee’s behalf.

Republicans expect Kavanaugh to be re-nominated sometime this year by the White House.