The latest papers from the Clinton White House, released Friday, show the intense preparations for the 1993 confirmation hearing of Ruth Bader Ginsburg to the Supreme Court—including the involvement by several top law firms. And the papers reveal the White House’s concern that year over the potential nomination of Stephen Breyer to the high court.
A memo recounting highlights of the June 23, 1993, White House meeting—just days after Clinton nominated Ginsburg—indicates that the law firm now known as Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr was assigned to draft “a detailed analysis of her written and spoken word outside the court.” In addition, the memo stated, “a group of lawyers at Covington and Burling is preparing a review of the pattern of questions at the last … hearings for nominees and [Sandra Day] O’Connor.”
