Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
The Daily 202: Kavanaugh won't even go as far as Gorsuch in defending judges from Trump's attacks
David Fahrenthold Retweeted:Kavanaugh won’t go as far as Gorsuch in defending judges from Trump’s personal attacks, @jameshohmann writes in the Daily 202:
Link to tweet
PowerPost Analysis
The Daily 202: Kavanaugh won’t even go as far as Gorsuch in defending judges from Trump’s personal attacks
By James Hohmann
September 7 at 9:27 AM
With Breanne Deppisch and Joanie Greve
THE BIG IDEA: Justice Neil Gorsuch called President Trump’s personal attacks on federal judges “demoralizing” during his confirmation hearing last year. “When someone criticizes the honesty, the integrity or the motives of a federal judge, I find that disheartening,” Gorsuch said, adding: “I’ve gone as far as I can go ethically.”
This muted critique didn’t satisfy Democrats, but it enraged Trump so much that he talked privately about rescinding Gorsuch’s nomination. The president vented angrily to White House advisers and Republican congressional leaders that the judge was insufficiently grateful to him and expressed fear that he wouldn’t be “loyal,” 11 people familiar with the episode told The Washington Post last December. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell was so concerned that he felt the need to repeatedly urge Trump to stick with Gorsuch.
So perhaps it shouldn’t have been surprising that, 18 months later, Brett Kavanaugh would not go nearly as far as Gorsuch during his three days of testimony, which wrapped up Thursday night at 10:13 p.m. But it was nevertheless striking. ... The president’s second nominee for the Supreme Court demurred, for example, when asked whether it was appropriate for Trump to say that Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s “mind is shot” when he called for her to resign. ... “I’m not going to get within three Zip codes” of answering that question, he replied.
Kavanaugh wouldn’t say if it’s okay for Trump to say that the Justice Department should not prosecute Republicans because it will hurt their chances of holding the House in the midterms. ... He also refused to say that it was inappropriate for Trump to insist that Judge Gonzalo Curiel couldn’t fairly adjudicate a fraud lawsuit against Trump University because he is the son of Mexican immigrants. Speaker Paul Ryan once called this “the textbook definition of a racist comment.”
....
James Hohmann
James Hohmann is a national political correspondent for The Washington Post. He is the author of The Daily 202, The Post's flagship political newsletter, and the voice of its affiliated Big Idea audio briefing. Hohmann covered local news for The Post in the aughts and returned in 2015 after six years at Politico. Follow https://twitter.com/JamesHohmann
The Daily 202: Kavanaugh won’t even go as far as Gorsuch in defending judges from Trump’s personal attacks
By James Hohmann
September 7 at 9:27 AM
With Breanne Deppisch and Joanie Greve
THE BIG IDEA: Justice Neil Gorsuch called President Trump’s personal attacks on federal judges “demoralizing” during his confirmation hearing last year. “When someone criticizes the honesty, the integrity or the motives of a federal judge, I find that disheartening,” Gorsuch said, adding: “I’ve gone as far as I can go ethically.”
This muted critique didn’t satisfy Democrats, but it enraged Trump so much that he talked privately about rescinding Gorsuch’s nomination. The president vented angrily to White House advisers and Republican congressional leaders that the judge was insufficiently grateful to him and expressed fear that he wouldn’t be “loyal,” 11 people familiar with the episode told The Washington Post last December. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell was so concerned that he felt the need to repeatedly urge Trump to stick with Gorsuch.
So perhaps it shouldn’t have been surprising that, 18 months later, Brett Kavanaugh would not go nearly as far as Gorsuch during his three days of testimony, which wrapped up Thursday night at 10:13 p.m. But it was nevertheless striking. ... The president’s second nominee for the Supreme Court demurred, for example, when asked whether it was appropriate for Trump to say that Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s “mind is shot” when he called for her to resign. ... “I’m not going to get within three Zip codes” of answering that question, he replied.
Kavanaugh wouldn’t say if it’s okay for Trump to say that the Justice Department should not prosecute Republicans because it will hurt their chances of holding the House in the midterms. ... He also refused to say that it was inappropriate for Trump to insist that Judge Gonzalo Curiel couldn’t fairly adjudicate a fraud lawsuit against Trump University because he is the son of Mexican immigrants. Speaker Paul Ryan once called this “the textbook definition of a racist comment.”
Link to tweet
....
James Hohmann
James Hohmann is a national political correspondent for The Washington Post. He is the author of The Daily 202, The Post's flagship political newsletter, and the voice of its affiliated Big Idea audio briefing. Hohmann covered local news for The Post in the aughts and returned in 2015 after six years at Politico. Follow https://twitter.com/JamesHohmann