Judge Kennedy Silent at Own Press Briefing
SACRAMENTO — Proposed Supreme Court nominee Anthony M. Kennedy called a news conference here Friday and then refused to answer questions, saying he would make statements only to the Senate Judiciary Committee.
The announcement dashed expectations that Kennedy might publicly confront questions about his work as a lobbyist for Schenley Industries Inc. in the 1960s and ‘70s and about his abrupt resignation last month from San Francisco’s all-white, all-male Olympic Club.
Because the Senate has already begun preliminary inquiries on the nomination, Kennedy said, “Due respect for the Senate requires that I do not comment until the confirmation process has been completed.”
Kennedy, who returned to Sacramento late Thursday night, told reporters he had summoned them to the cursory briefing to “let you know that we are back home from the excitement of Washington.”
President Reagan has not yet officially sent Kennedy’s nomination to the Senate because the FBI has not completed its investigation of the nominee. In Sacramento on Friday, FBI agents were searching for court records of lawsuits in which Kennedy had been involved.
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