Senator Corey Booker of New Jersey broke Senate rules Thursday by releasing committee confidential emails where Judge Brett Kavanaugh was discussing racial profiling while working for the George W. Bush administration.

The emails were drafted by Kavanaugh while he served as White House counsel. The emails were released after a contentious exchange between Booker and Republican Senators. 

According to The Hill:

But the move comes after Booker said during a heated debate on Kavanaugh’s third day before the Judiciary Committee that he would release the email thread.

“I am right now, before your process is finished, I am going to release the email about racial profiling, and I understand the penalty comes with potential ousting from the Senate,” Booker said at the hearing.

…

In one of the emails, Kavanaugh questioned Department of Transportation (DOT) affirmative action regulations.

“The fundamental problem in this case is that these DOT regulations use a lot of legalisms and disguises to mask what in reality is a naked racial set-aside,” Kavanaugh writes in one of the emails from 2001.

Booker acknowledged that he would be knowingly violating the rules of the Senate. Senator John Cornyn of Texas shot back stating that this is no different than a Senator releasing classified materials to the public.

Booker could be expelled from the Senate but it is unclear if that will be pursued by Senate Republicans.

It is speculated that Booker will run for president in 2020, and this could be an attempt by him to gain credibility among Democrat voters.