Denouncing a process he said kept key documents from the public, U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) dramatically assumed centerstage at the Kavanaugh hearing this morning as he acknowledged knowingly breaching Senate protocols when he referenced an email in his Wednesday night cross examination of President Donald J. Trump’s Supreme Court nominee.

“I knowingly violated the rules that were put forth,” Booker said, calling his move an act of “civil disobedience.”

He’s ready to double down, too, and prepared to release more confidential “racial set-aside” documents.

In what he described as the closest he could come to an “I am Spartacus moment,” Booker welcomed his Democratic colleagues, who stood with him after U.S. Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) called Booker’s action “irresponsible and unbecoming of a senator.”

Cornyn mocked his colleague for political grandstanding.

“Running for president is no excuse for violating the rules of the Senate or the confidentiality of the documents we are privy to,” Cornyn said.

“Very serious charges made against me by my colleague from Texas,” the New Jersey lawmaker shot back, as nominee Brett Kavanaugh observed.

“Bring the charges against me,” Booker dared Cornyn. “If someone is going to level those charges I hope they will follow through. I hope they will bring charges against us [him and his Democratic colleagues]. I am ready to accept the full consequences of what I’ve done.”