CNN has just made a point of this guys political ‘bones’ in the past…..
As a George W. Bush guy….
Schumer had presided over this guys confirmation for Federal judgeships, twice….
Each time Kavanaugh got the job….
The media tag here, on CNN is this guy is a political operative ….
And a Republican establishment guy….
Some conservatives will NOT be happy with this choice….
There where protests after the choice was announced …
President Donald Trump announced on Monday evening that he would nominate Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, setting up a major confirmation battle in the Senate as Trump moves to dramatically reshape the court.
The nomination comes less than two weeks after Justice Anthony Kennedy, long a swing-vote on the deeply divided Court, announced his retirement, handing Trump the second vacancy of his presidency.
Kavanaugh, 53, has served on the prestigious U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit since 2006. A former Kennedy clerk and aide to President George W. Bush, Kavanaugh is widely revered in conservative legal circles.
“What matters is not a judge’s political views but whether they can set aside those views to do what the law and Constitution require.” Trump said in announcing his pick. “Tonight it is my honor and privilege to announce that I will nominate Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the United States Supreme Court.”….
Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) said on Monday night that he will oppose Brett Kavanaugh, President Trump‘s pick for the Supreme Court, and he urged the Senate to reject the nominee.
In choosing Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh for the Supreme Court, President Trump went with a well-credentialed Washington insider who compiled a long record as a reliable conservative and won the respect of White House lawyers and the outside groups that advise them.
They are confident that, if confirmed by the Senate, he will move the high court to the right on abortion, gun rights, affirmative action, religious liberty and environmental protection, among other issues.
But his court record and his status as a Beltway insider could also pose problems as the 53-year-old judge on U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit seeks to move a few blocks up Capitol Hill to replace Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, for whom he worked as a law clerk from 1993 to 1994.
In the late 1990s, Kavanaugh played a lead role in the aggressive investigation of President Clinton led by independent counsel Kenneth W. Starr. He was an author of the Starr Report, which urged the House to impeach the president for lying about a sexual affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky….
President Trump on Monday selected Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh, a politically connected member of Washington’s conservative legal establishment, to fill Justice Anthony M. Kennedy’s seat on the Supreme Court, setting up an epic confirmation battle and potentially cementing the court’s rightward tilt for a generation.
The nomination of Judge Kavanaugh, 53, a federal appeals court judge, former aide to President George W. Bush and onetime investigator of President Bill Clinton, was not a huge surprise, given his conservative record, elite credentials and deep ties among the Republican legal groups that have advanced conservatives for the federal bench.
But it will galvanize Democrats and Republicans in the months before the midterm elections. Justice Kennedy, who is retiring, held the swing vote in many closely divided cases on issues like abortion, affirmative action, gay rights and the death penalty. Replacing him with a committed conservative, who could potentially serve for decades, will fundamentally alter the balance of the court and put dozens of precedents at risk.
Judge Kavanaugh’s long history of legal opinions, as well as his role in some of the fiercest partisan battles of the last two decades, will give Democrats plenty of ammunition for tough questions. Nearly 20 years ago, working for the independent counsel Kenneth W. Starr, he laid out broad grounds to impeach Mr. Clinton — words that Democrats can now seize on to apply to Mr. Trump and the Russia investigation. Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, who leads the barest of Republican majorities, had also expressed misgivings about his path to confirmation…..
Note....Brett Kavanaugh worked on the Star case against Bill Clinton….
He is a strong supporter of Presidential power, since he worked in the White House of Bush president’s….
He believes that President’s should NOT be touched by much of anything while in office…
image…..1470wmbd.com
At least one liberal likes the nomination:
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/09/opinion/brett-kavanaugh-supreme-court-trump.html?smid=tw-nytopinion&smtyp=cur
There is virtually NOT way the Democrats can actually derail this choice for the court….
Three of the Democrats up for re-election in November voted for Neil Gorsuch…
Even in Sen. McCain does NOT vote….
This guy is gonna get in….
Do NOT believe for one moment that GOP Senator Collins, or any other Republican will vote against this guy….
Rand Paul might vote against him because Rand Paul is like that.
Yes, Democrats will go all out to fight a political war to stop the pick. It won’t work and it will hurt them in the long-run.
In the short-term, they may raise a lot of money and drive up the midterm turnout in the blue states, while making things harder and more uncomfortable for their vulnerable incumbents in the Red States.
Watching the event, I was struck by how obvious it was from the body language that Mrs. Kavanaugh, herself an alum of the Bush White House, had no use for DJT. She barely looked in his direction.
It won’t hurt them at all….
In fact it will HELP them in general….
Red State Democrats might even benefit with voting for this guy….
You are watching a guy and his wife CONFIRM that judges ARE political animals like anyone else in Washington…
Well, that implies they will vote for him.
The big question about Kavanaugh is how does his pick fit into the “Trump is a secret Democrat” theory of CG’s?
Yes, I have been contemplating that one myself.
I’m looking forward to the answer.
I need a good laugh today.
The humor from James’s suggestion that Congressional Republicans might vote to impeach Trump based on the Mueller report has worn off.
Another Jack ‘fake’ point this morning…
My feeling is that unless Mueller presents a ‘slam dunk’ by December 31st?
NO….
Republicans will NOT vote against Trump in the House…
I HAVE made this point here
Now?
AFTER Jan.1, 2019…..
Things change…
IF the Democratic ‘wave’ rolls in the midterms?
and Dem’s take the House?
Pelosi is gonna be in a fight of her life to beat back YUGE pressure to hold impeachment hearings….
If for some reason the Democrats actually inch out a slim majority (0-5% chance?)….
Trump WILL have a impeachment fight on his hands…
Once again, everything the Democrats do will “ hurt” them.Talk about a “ line” getting old..
As for this armchair “ analysis” that Kavanaughs wife doesn’t like Trump because she didn’t gaze at him enough? That’s so far out there it’s beyond comment.The man just elevated her husband to a lifetime sinecure.Yeah I’m sure she is overflowing with hostility.
However, it’s always good to see CG back with his tribe.
CG is indeed firmly in the tribe. Note that he has had nothing to say about Jim Jordan’s scandal. The day the Al Franken story broke he made dozens of comments. But he still lectures us on how he sees “nuance” beyond partisanship. My ass
Sorry, I’ve been busy at work. I will try to comment later if time allows.
The old, sorry I have work to do excuse. What about every other day here Corey, especially election day, don’t you have work then too?
Here is my favorite Corey comment from last evening, one that folks may have missed since he was so prolific last night in his celebratory posts.
“For a brief, shining moment, it feels like a Bush is President.”
What shine was that Corey? The two recessions? One that approached depression era levels. The two wars? One that was in the wrong place against the wrong nation that cost thousands of lives and destabilized an entire region creating a brand new terrorist organizations. Or the deficits, created to reward rich people and fund an unnecessary war. What moment are we talking about?
This appointment could have been worse, but this guy is really kind of a partisan slug. And, I am beginning to believe my friends in DC who were telling me the fix was in all the time and this appointment was the price of Kennedy’s retirement. Kennedy was assured that someone in his mold would be appointed and they were. It is important to remember that Kennedy really is, other than his position on gay rights and choice, very conservative.
I believe in the ying and yang of these things, we never know what will happen next. But, it is interesting to note that the new appointee seems to have changed his position on the issue of a President being criminally liable while still in office. For me, I am willing to wait to see Trump go to jail when he’s out of office.
But, we should all remember that Kavanaugh once wrote questions of Bill Clinton for Ken Starr like, “Mr. President, did you cum in Ms. Lewinsky’s mouth when she was preforming oral sex on you?” I wonder if he would ask the same of Donald Trump?
As the Atlantic wrote today, “Not since Harding picked Taft has the country been presented with a high court nominee so completely shaped by the needs and mores of the executive branch.” Kavanaugh is devoted to Executive Power, and while Donald Trump may see this as a “get out of jail card,” the next Democrat will hopefully use this devotion to fix the horrible damage that is being done to our democracy.
If Democrats don’t fight the pick it will hurt them. Hell, Grassley wouldn’t even hold a hearing on Garland. How much did that obstructionism hurt Grassley?
All Democratic Senators – including those in red states – can find a good reason to reject this terrible choice by this corrupt and illegal president.
It will be brought up that this guy supports the concept that a President IS above civil and criminal law efforts….
That the ONLY recourse is IMPEACHMENT…..
Clinton got the Civil thing put away…President’s CAN and DO get sued civilly….
He also wrote that a President could be impeached for lying, even if NOT under oath….
This was BEFORE the Clinton Impeachment….
That’s not accurate as your second point makes clear.
Kavanaugh said Bill Clinton could be impeached simply for lying.
Don’t you guys approve of that now?
I think he will be fair in any relevant case. He will surely be asked by the Senate to affirm his willingness to be impartial towards anything related to DJT.
I just posted that….
We will get more on the timeline for that comment…
Pundit on CNN that worked with the guy says that AFTER the Clinton impeachment?
Kavanaugh’s mind was changed….
He NOW belives that a sitting President is above EVERYTHING….
Only is responsible to Congress and impeachment….
Point to remember ?
There is NOTHING in the US Constitution that prohibits brings criminal or civil charges against a sitting president….
The only thing on this is a Dept of Justice opinion memo….
You can bet your ass that if this was a Democrat?
The Republicans would singing a different song….
via….
Ezra Klein
@ezraklein
But Kavanaugh’s views are clear: “The indictment and trial of a sitting President, moreover, would cripple the federal government, rendering it unable to function with credibility in either the international or domestic arenas. Such an outcome would ill serve the public interest”
Mueller’s name is in the conversation on the media channel’s….
Kavanaugh might end up voting on a Mueller subpoena compelling him to appear before a grand jury…
That has nothing to do with civil charges.
That is a belief that people from all sorts of political perspectives agree on. I think jack agrees with it as well that it would be impossible to have a sitting President on trial criminally. They would have to be impeached and removed first or face charges after leaving office.
I don’t agree….
I think that if a grand jury indicted Trump for criminal actions?
He should stand trial….
America is one the few countries tries that is more worried about keeping the office of President above the law….
It’s messed up….
Yes I do.
While all the attention is on how the more conservative Supreme Court will rule on social issues,my view is that the more substantive rulings will be in the areas of criminal and corporate law.
Look for more prosecution oriented rulings as regards criminal defendant rights and in search and seizure cases and more pro business rulings in corporate cases to name a few.
As to Kavanaugh himself, he’s pretty much an establishment conservative.His legal qualifications are obvious;however, I expect a vigorous challenge by the Democrats to appease their base..
I doubt that any Republican ,except possibly for the unpredictable Paul,while oppose him ,while he will likely garner a few Democratic votes from some red state incumbents.Final favorable votes?52-55.
No Surprise…..
…“Let’s put it this way: There were some who have been on the list that I would have had a very, very difficult time supporting, just based on what was already publicly known about them,” Murkowski (R-Alaska) said in an interview on Monday. “We’re not dealing with that.”
Collins (R-Maine) told reporters that while she wouldn’t directly compare Kavanaugh with Barrett, she touted Kavanaugh’s experience and sounded warm notes about him while insisting she has yet to decide.
“It will be very difficult for anyone to argue that he’s not qualified for the job. He clearly is qualified for the job,” Collins said. “But there are other issues involving judicial temperament and his political, or rather, his judicial philosophy that also will play into my decision.”
Both senators also voted for Kavanaugh’s nomination to the D.C. Circuit Court in 2006….
More…
Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh “incurred tens of thousands of dollars of credit card debt buying baseball tickets over the past decade and at times reported liabilities that could have exceeded the value of his cash accounts and investment assets,” the Washington Post reports.
The White House said Kavanaugh “built up the debt by buying Washington Nationals season tickets and tickets for playoff games for himself and a ‘handful’ of friends.”
“Kavanaugh’s most recent financial disclosure forms reveal assets between $15,000 and $65,000, which would put him at the bottom of the financial ranking of justices, most of whom list well over $1 million in assets.”
Politicalwire…