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WASHINGTON – Democrats Who Formerly Considered Health Care And Abortion As Their Best Lines Of Attack On Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh, President Trump's Candidate To The Supreme Court, Reshape Their Approach For take it to him.
Democrat Senator Chuck Schumer of New York City said in an interview Wednesday that Judge Kavanaugh's belief in broad presidential authority was "just beyond the deep end".
For Democrats facing a bitter struggle to block Judge Kavanaugh's confirmation, his protective views of the presidency could prove to be a bright red ribbon. Rather than play safely with a wide range of voters worried about access to health care and abortion, Democrats now see an opportunity to excite their base by fueling the fears that the country's highest court could become a bulwark to protect the man As the judge went around the Capitol – he made a courtesy call to Senator John Cornyn of Texas, Republican No. 2, and Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina – Mr. Schumer and His Democratic Colleagues They launched a series of questions that, they hope, will give the impression that a Kavanaugh judge would compromise the Independence of the court.
Schumer said the issues could appeal even to more moderate voters.
"This question, I think, will affect a lot of people who are somehow OK with Trump, but think there must be some control and balance," Schumer said. many people in America who still say, "I voted for him, I guess he's fine". But when you ask them: "Does he need control and balance?" 19659002] In two law newspaper articles, one published in 1998 and the first one published in 1998. In 2009, Justice Kavanaugh raised the question of whether a president could be charged and suggested that presidents be protected from civil and criminal prosecution. Both explore issues that are deeply relevant to Mr. Trump and the ongoing investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 elections.
Even before Mr. Trump chooses his candidate for the court , the Democrats had decided that they would focus almost exclusively on abortion. Mr. Schumer said earlier this week. But their lines of attack have expanded.
Republicans repel, accusing Democrats of distorting the judge's words. (In a fact-finding article published on Wednesday, The Washington Post gave Democrats "two Pinocchios" for some of their claims about Judge Kavanaugh, and concluded that there was "no evidence that he wanted to vote to reject an indictment. "Against Trump, Should One Never be Filed.")
Mr. Cornyn said that he questioned Judge Kavanaugh about the articles of the law review during their "courtesy visit" on Wednesday.He said that the judge had indicated that he had proposed that Congress impose limits on the inquiries of incumbent presidents.
"He says, "If you read the section of the law, it clearly indicates that it is a congressional decision." He wrote about his experience in the Clinton indictment case, " said Mr. Cornyn, referring to the time of Judge Kavanaugh in the independent council team, Kenneth W. Starr.
He has added: a review article of the law. Lawyers think about these issues and come up with ideas, but it's not really about his ability to be in the Supreme Court. "
Democrats argue that Judge Kavanaugh should pledge to recuse himself from any case involving Mr. Trump's financial transactions or the Russian investigation
" For me, it's a Threshold qualification issue, "said Senator Richard Blumenthal, Connecticut Democrat." It does not mean that it will recuse itself, I think everyone should really reconsider it. " he can support this candidate. "
These arguments could energize Democratic voters before the mid-term elections.Those they will be enough to influence Senate Democrats of Republican states or moderate Republicans whose votes are crucial to Judge Kavanaugh's confirmation remains to be seen
A key vote, Senator Susan Collins, Republican of Maine, spoke favorably of Justice Kavanaugh on Wednesday, noting that the articles reflected "Justice Kavanaugh's contemplation of his role in the Clinton dismissal. "
" It was a long time before there was a Russian investigation and long before Donald Trump was president, so I think those who try a link here are missing the schedule " said Ms. Collins. "But it is nevertheless a question that I will certainly raise with him."
The Democrats hope that more questions will come up as senators deal with the writings and opinions of Judge Kavanaugh. The candidate's record is so long that Rod J. Rosenstein, the Deputy Attorney General, has asked federal prosecutors to help revise government documents to speed up the confirmation process, according to a letter obtained Wednesday by New York. Times. The Democrats' argument about presidential power can not influence Republican senators, but it will resonate with voters, said Geoff Garin, a Democratic pollster.
"Voters, including many independent voters and some Republican voters, care deeply about keeping the Supreme Court as an independent control and balancing on the power of the president," Garin said. "Our polls in the red states show that voters would approve that their senator vote against confirmation if he thought the candidate would weaken the role of the court by providing independent control and balance."
The articles are not just from Judge Kavanaugh's experiments for Mr. Starr, but also his service to former President George W. Bush. They enter the public discourse just as Robert S. Mueller III, the special advisor, suggested that he could assign the president as part of his investigation into whether the Trump campaign was influenced by the Russians to influence the 2016 elections. Judge Kavanaugh wrote in the Georgetown Law Journal in 1998. He proposed that Congress pass a law specifying that the president "can not be prosecuted or denounced. In 1965, wrote in Minnesota Law Review, he argues that civil lawsuits and criminal investigations are a heavy distraction for a president: "As civil lawsuits, criminal investigations take the president's attention away from his responsibilities to the people." And a president who is Concerned about an ongoing criminal investigation will almost inevitably do a worse job as a president. "
There is a precedent for a candidate for the neck r Supreme who is grilled about his opinion on executive powers, said Nan Aron, the founder and president of Alliance for Justice, a liberal advocacy group. In 1987, Robert H. Bork, Ronald Reagan's Supreme Court candidate who was ultimately unsuccessful, was questioned extensively about his role in the dismissal of Archibald Cox, the special prosecutor who was investigating President Richard M. Nixon. Carrie Severino, chief counsel of the conservative Justice Judicial Crisis Network, drew a different parallel with Nixon, noting that four judges appointed by Mr. Nixon, three – Warren E. Burger, Harry A. Blackmun, and Lewis F. Powell Jr. – sat on the US case c. Nixon, the case in which the Supreme Court ordered Nixon to comply with a subpoena – and joined the unanimous decision of the President
Sheryl Gay Stolberg on Twitter: @sherylnyt. This article appears in print on on Page A 16 of the New York Publishing with the title: In the Judge's Views on Power presidential, Democrats see a line of attack . Order Reprints | Paper of today | Subscribe
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