Tag: Supreme Court of the U.S.

Trump Calls Them ‘My Judges.’ Will They Side With Him In Separation Of Powers Fight?

Justice Brett Kavanaugh is the Trump Supreme Court appointee with the longest record on presidential power.

In his effort to defend himself against any and all investigations, President Donald Trump and his lawyers have made a number of novel, often outrageous, arguments asserting he has nearly complete immunity from oversight.

He rejects subpoenas seeking his financial records, testimony from administration officials or documents from federal agencies. He asserts executive privilege on the actions of nongovernment employees. And he denies the legitimacy of the impeachment inquiry underway by the House of Representatives into his actions involving Ukraine.

Some judges have displayed shock at the “extreme” legal positions, as U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell referred to them, that Trump has deployed to evade oversight.

View the complete October 24 article by Paul Blumenthal on the Huffington Post website here.

Supreme Court nominee has argued presidents should not be distracted by investigations and lawsuits

The following article by Michael Kranish and Ann E. Marimow was posted on the Washington Post website July 9, 2018:

Brett Kavanaugh accepted President Trump’s nomination to the Supreme Court July 9, after Justice Kennedy announced his retirement in June. (The Washington Post)

U.S. Circuit Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh, a former clerk for Supreme Court Justice Anthony M. Kennedy who was nominated replace him, has argued that presidents should not be distracted by civil lawsuits, criminal investigations or even questions from a prosecutor or defense attorney while in office.

Kavanaugh had direct personal experience that informed his 2009 article for the Minnesota Law Review: He helped investigate President Bill Clinton as part of independent counsel Kenneth W. Starr’s team and then served for five years as a close aide to President George W. Bush.

Having observed the weighty issues that can consume a president, Kavanaugh wrote, the nation’s chief executive should be exempt from “time-consuming and distracting” lawsuits and investigations, which “would ill serve the public interest, especially in times of financial or national security crisis.”

View the full article on the Washington Post website.