Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ted Lieu ask Senate for clarity: Did Gorsuch, Kavanaugh lie about Roe?

WASHINGTON – Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Calif., have asked the Senate to clarify whether Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch lied under oath about their stand on abortion during their confirmation hearings.

In a joint letter to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer issued Monday, the lawmakers said  "multiple" Supreme Court justices "misled the American people during their confirmation hearings about their views on Roe v. Wade and Casey v. Planned Parenthood."

The letter accuses "at least" Kavanaugh and Gorsuch of not telling the truth.

The legislators said, "it is impossible to reconcile the sweeping majority opinion in Dobbs with the statements made by Justices Gorsuch and Kavanaugh during their confirmation hearings."

Ocasio-Cortez and Lieu said they respect the justices' personal beliefs; however, "we cannot have a system where Justices lie about their views in order to get confirmed. That makes a mockery of the confirmation power and of the separation of powers."

Kavanaugh and Gorsuch were among the conservative justices who ruled against upholding Roe in June. The two justices have come under criticism for their decision to the ruling. 

During their confirmation hearings, both justices agreed that Roe v. Wade was settled, a legal precedent that should be respected. The letter from Ocasio-Cortez and Lieu highlights their testimony.

Gorsuch said in his 2017 hearing that abortion had been "reaffirmed many times, I can say that."

Kavanaugh said at the time of his hearing that Roe v. Wade is "settled as a precedent of the Supreme Court, entitled the respect under principles of stare decisis."

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In an interview with NBC's "Meet the Press," in June, Ocasio-Cortez said that lying under oath during hearings is an impeachable matter, and it should be looked into if the justices lied.

Republican Sen. Susan Collins from Maine and Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, who voted to confirm Gorsuch and Kavanaugh, have said the justices misled them.

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In a statement in June, Collins noted "this decision is inconsistent with what Justices Gorsuch and Kavanaugh said in their testimony and their meetings with me, where they both were insistent on the importance of supporting long-standing precedents that the country has relied upon."

Manchin, who is against abortion but supports a woman's right to choose, said in a statement in June he was disappointed with the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe. "I trusted Justice Gorsuch and Justice Kavanaugh when they testified under oath that they also believed Roe v. Wade was a settled legal precedent, and I am alarmed they chose to reject the stability the ruling has provided for two generations of Americans. "

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: AOC, Lieu want Senate to clarify if Gorsuch, Kavanaugh lied about Roe