staffer said Bomgardner was apparently upset at an earlier line of questioning over her husband's prior membership in Concerned Alumni of Princeton.
Alito, who listed membership in the group on a 1985 job application, said he did not recall joining and strongly denounced the group's purported support for admission restrictions on women and minorities.
While the nominee remained calm, an angry exchange occurred between the Republican chairman, Pennsylvania's Arlen Specter, and Sen. Edward Kennedy, a Massachusetts Democrat.
Kennedy criticized Alito's membership in the Princeton alumni group and wanted the committee to subpoena its records, which are housed in the Library of Congress. He demanded Specter immediately rule on the matter. (Watch as nomination hearing gets heated -- 3:31)
Specter said it was the first time he had heard about Kennedy's request. The two lawmakers then exchanged heated words over whether that was true.
Later, Specter said he had discussed the issue with staff during a break and was reminded that he had dismissed it as "unmeritorious."
However, he said that Kennedy's staffers "are en route or at the Library of Congress to look at these records."
Outside the hearing room, Kennedy cast doubt on Alito's testimony.
"It's extraordinary to me that this nominee can remember all 67 of his dissents in great detail ... and he still is mystified about his association with a CAP organization that he used as a job reference," he said.
