Peter Strzok, the F.B.I. agent who led the investigations of Russian interference and the Clinton emails, was hauled before the House but came out swinging.
The deputy attorney general asked each of the nation’s 93 United States attorneys to provide up to three prosecutors to review the documents of President Trump’s Supreme Court pick.
Democrats thought the weakness of a Supreme Court nominee would be health care and abortion. Then came Brett M. Kavanaugh’s writings on shielding presidents from investigation.
With the country polarized and the Supreme Court’s ideological balance at stake, the battle over Brett M. Kavanaugh will most likely cost tens of millions of dollars.
The nomination will set off a furious confirmation battle, as the retiring Justice Anthony M. Kennedy has held the decisive vote in many closely divided cases.