Tag: Supreme Court of the United States

Brett Kavanaugh memo proposed explicit questions for President Bill Clinton

The following article by Michael Kranish was posted on the Washington Post website August 20, 2018:

Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh listens during a meeting with Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) on Capitol Hill on July 11. Credit: Manuel Balce Ceneta, AP

A 1998 memo written by Brett Kavanaugh proposed a series of tough, sexually explicit questions for President Bill Clinton to answer about his affair with Monica Lewinsky, shedding new light on the Supreme Court nominee’s moralistic outlook and his view of presidential power.

Kavanaugh, as associate counsel in the office of independent counsel Kenneth W. Starr, wrote in the memo that he was “strongly opposed” to giving Clinton any “break” and suggested 10 questions, including: “If Monica Lewinsky says that you inserted a cigar into her vagina while you were in the Oval Office area, would she be lying?”

The memo provides a contrast to the genial, soft-spoken nominee who chooses every word carefully as he makes the rounds of the Senate before his Sept. 4 hearing before the Judiciary Committee. It reveals a hardball tactician who argued forcefully that Starr had the right to press the president for answers, a view he later shifted, saying presidents are too busy to be subject to such investigations while in office.

View the complete article here.

Russian firm indicted in special counsel probe cites Kavanaugh decision to argue that charge should be dismissed

The following article by Robert Barnes was posted on the Washington Post website July 20, 2018:

The Post’s Robert Barnes explains some of the factors that could influence whether Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh is confirmed. (Video: Monica Akhtar/Photo: Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)

A Russian company accused by special counsel Robert S. Mueller III of being part of an online operation to disrupt the 2016 presidential campaign is leaning in part on a decision by Supreme Court nominee Brett M. Kavanaugh to argue that the charge against it should be thrown out.

The 2011 decision by Kavanaugh, writing for a three-judge panel, concerned the role that foreign nationals may play in U.S. elections. It upheld a federal law that said foreigners temporarily in the country may not donate money to candidates, contribute to political parties and groups, or spend money advocating for or against candidates. But it did not rule out letting foreigners spend money on independent advocacy campaigns.

Kavanaugh “went out of his way to limit the decision,” said Daniel A. Petalas, a Washington lawyer and former interim general counsel for the Federal Election Commission.

View the complete article here.

The Supreme Court’s Right Turn

The following article by Joseph P. Williams was posted on the U.S. News and World Report website June 29, 2018:

Justice Kennedy’s retirement cements the high court’s shift to the right – perhaps for generations.

Credit:
Carlos Barria/Reuters

AS USUAL, THIS YEAR’S Supreme Court term had a slow start, with liberals and conservatives reaching consensus on controversial issues, if not avoiding them entirely. But in a dead sprint to the finish line, the high court’s conservative majority triggered a series of unexpected shock waves and gave the nation a glimpse of the future.

The bloc led by Chief Justice John Roberts, and anchored by Justice Neil Gorsuch, the court’s newest, most conservative member, swept aside progressive arguments (and its own precedents) to defang public-sector labor unions, support “pregnancy crisis centers” that steer women from abortions and uphold what opponents call politically-rigged voting districts. Continue reading “The Supreme Court’s Right Turn”