Cory Booker, Senator from New Jersey, thinks he is Spartacus. The hero of his own mind, Booker announced that he was gonna RISK IT ALL! For the… *checks notes*… sake of public disclosure! By releasing confidential emails! Even though it’s against the Senate rules!

NEW: Booker says he will release “committe confidential” email on Kavanaugh and racial profiling, even though he could be expelled from Senate for breaking rule.

— Aaron Blake (@AaronBlake) September 6, 2018

BREAKING: SenBooker says he knows he is violating Senate rules by releasing a sensitive email in #Kavanaugh hearing. Booker calls it civil disobedience and is prepared to get kicked out of the Senate. SenCornyn asks him to reconsider "irresponsible conduct unbecoming a Sen"

— Shannon Bream (@ShannonBream) September 6, 2018

What you do matters.

What you say matters.

No matter how big the fight

Or inevitable the conclusion seems

Stand up.

Speak up.

Wrong, temporarily victorious

Is never greater than Right, forever vigilant.

— Cory Booker (@CoryBooker) September 6, 2018

ATTICA! ATTICA!

'This is probably the closest I'll ever come in my life to an "I am Spartacus" moment' – Sen. Booker, as we roll into another day of questioning and drama over docs in the #Kavanaugh hearing

— sallykidd (@sallykidd) September 6, 2018

Oh wait, wrong movie.

Man, there’s grandstanding, and then there’s Cory Booker grandstanding by pledging to release confidential documents and daring your colleagues to expel you from the Senate. This is the Sistine Chapel of grandstanding. pic.twitter.com/clt1UELUAY

— Jim Geraghty (@jimgeraghty) September 6, 2018

Booker needs to remember that Spartacus dies at the end of the movie. So, did Booker just kill his own career?

These are the 4 documents marked committee confidential that I brought up in my questioning of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh last night –> https://t.co/2RZkY2FS9a

— Cory Booker (@CoryBooker) September 6, 2018

Well…. Booker may have been playing checkers while everyone else was playing 3-D chess.

Now, Grassley's office has formally released the committee confidential emails that Booker published earlier, along with other Kavanaugh docs Dems had asked to be made public. It wasn't immediately clear if this would affect Booker's possible liability https://t.co/21tnqdbK9f

— Zoe Tillman (@ZoeTillman) September 6, 2018

Talk about taking the wind out of someone’s sails, Senator Grassley. You ruined his moment!

Oh, and by “checkers,” I mean Cory Booker was playing Connect Four.

So the documents that Cory Booker violated committee rules to release shows that Kavanaugh rejected the use of race or national origin in airport security screening and law enforcement generally in the immediate aftermath of 9/11 https://t.co/aNIkqWeN01 pic.twitter.com/bhyBG17uz2

— Lachlan Markay (@lachlan) September 6, 2018

Another great victory for Sen. Booker!

Apparently…he…wanted more racial targeting?

Well…SPARTACUS! https://t.co/D3dSDtubcG

— Pradheep J. Shanker, M.D., M.S. (@Neoavatara) September 6, 2018

Supporting racial profiling to…own the cons? https://t.co/RU9p9nrkl9

— Drew McCoy (@_Drew_McCoy_) September 6, 2018

This has tens of thousands of retweets – did anyone read the documents?
I suppose it's nice that left-wing twitter is so eager to promote the proof that Kavanaugh is against racial discrimination. https://t.co/WdxKCMRqEv

— Benny (@bennyjohnson) September 6, 2018

It’s cute to see how the left is trying to defend their new Spartacus.

The point isn’t that he’s racist. The point is to show that documents being withheld are not a matter of national security.

— Barry McCockiner (@BarryBucks69) September 6, 2018

The point wasn't was IN the emails but the fact they were not made public when there wasn't a reason to be made confidential … this is not a fact of national security is @CoryBooker point.

— jo thacker (@jothacker4) September 6, 2018

But most normal people are not impressed with Booker’s self-own.

Lol am I missing something? Those emails don’t say anything. @CoryBooker’s followers are eating it up though. I wonder how many people have actually read them!!

— Lindsey Herron (@countrygirlgrit) September 6, 2018

I am also trying to figure out the point of these e-mails. So Kavanaugh was against racial profiling. This appears to be a good thing, or are they trying to claim he was “for” racial profiling because these do not represent that.

— Allen Long (@pachaman1979) September 6, 2018

This shows nothing and shows that the end goal was having a race neutral system? The left has completely lost it. Think it’s funny you are being congratulated for showing us Kavenaugh is a decent human being.

— Keith Anderson (@tro1310) September 6, 2018

pic.twitter.com/wACjr1nCCD

— Chad Emery (@publicemery1) September 6, 2018

So, what happens now to Senator Cory Booker? Senator Grassley absolutely should make an example out of him – if for nothing else than his own massive stupidity for making a grandstanding idiot of himself when the emails in question had just been cleared THIS MORNING.

Senate Judiciary Committee staffers tell our @GriffJenkins that the documents SenBooker released today were already agreed to and cleared late LAST NIGHT. Not clear exactly which senators knew that before Booker publicly announced he was willing to violate policy and release.

— Shannon Bream (@ShannonBream) September 6, 2018

“I am going to release the e-mail about racial profiling and I understand that the penalty comes with potential ousting from the Senate,” Booker, believed to be considering a run for president in 2020, said.

At another point, Booker said, “This is about the closest I’ll probably ever have in my life to an, ‘I am Spartacus’ moment.”

But it turns out, Booker didn’t actually break any rules. The Republicans on the Judiciary Committee said they worked with the George W. Bush library and the Justice Department overnight to clear the emails. The restrictions were waived early Thursday morning.

Therefore, Booker’s act of defiance was not an actual violation of the rules because nothing that he released was marked committee confidential at the time of its release.

“The irony is after Senator Booker said basically he was going to release the document anyway… it had already been worked out that this was going to be then released to the public,” Cornyn said.

“Apparently, some just wanted to break the rules and make a scene, but didn’t check their email,” a spokesman for committee Republicans said in a statement. The committee posted the same documents.

“Clearly, he is running for president,” GOP Sen. John Thune later told Fox News, speaking of Booker.

The emails appeared to be cleared in part because of the involvement of Utah GOP Sen. Mike Lee.

“I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I will happily work with any of my colleagues from across the aisle to go through the necessary steps and processes to try and get specific classified documents released to the public,” Utah Sen. Mike Lee tweeted.

Cory Booker: By releasing these emails, I AM SPARTACUS!
Documents: Kavanaugh's not a racist, and properly understands the role of precedent in Supreme Court jurisprudence.
Booker: YOU'RE MISSING THE POINT I AM SPARTACUS

— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) September 6, 2018

pic.twitter.com/gDjMMU3laa

— Seth Mandel (@SethAMandel) September 6, 2018

Of course, now that the release has been authorized, Booker is now tossing everything to the wind to see if something sticks.

Here are two additional Kavanaugh “committee confidential” documents related to school busing and affirmative action: https://t.co/Lgdl1Al82l

— Cory Booker (@CoryBooker) September 6, 2018

However, what matters are the initial documents that he tweeted out as a “gotcha!” moment, not anything else that gets released later. Spartacus there staked his career on that initial tweet and those four documents, which ends up being absolutely nothing – and he ends up breaking no rules, which means that there will probably be no punishment except by public ridicule.

But the question now is: did he not know, and did it anyway; or did he know, and stage this anyway?

So, now we're being told (by Committee staffers) that SenBooker knew BEFORE he made these statements – that the documents in question had already been cleared for release. That's a significant claim to make, so I've asked his office directly. Will update if/when I get response. https://t.co/lNxx3wEVCZ

— Shannon Bream (@ShannonBream) September 6, 2018

Here’s what happened: Last night, Senators Leahy, Coons, Blumenthal and Booker requested that certain “committee confidential” documents be made public for use during the hearing for Judge Kavanaugh. https://t.co/nAmaAI5sxm

— Garrett Ventry (@GarrettVentry) September 6, 2018

Chairman Grassley went to bat for them, and worked with the Justice Department and office of former President Bush to waive the relevant statutory restrictions on those documents. Those restrictions were waived before 4:00 AM this morning and made ready for release.

— Garrett Ventry (@GarrettVentry) September 6, 2018

In short, Sen. Booker made a scene this morning about committee confidential docs that Chairman Grassley helped make public prior to the hearing today.

— Garrett Ventry (@GarrettVentry) September 6, 2018

I hope Cory Booker never lives down his “Spartacus” moment.

Featured image: screenshot via Washington Post on YouTube