If confirmed by the senate, i will keep an open mind in every case and i will always strive to preserve the constitution of the United States and the american rule of law. So kavanaugh is a graduate of Yale Law School and clerked for Justice Kennedy. In 1993 he met ken starr during a Justice Department fellowship and became a key staff member when starr was the independent counsel investigating the white water and clinton lieu ensky scandals. Kavanaugh helped write the final report to congress that laid out 11 possible grounds for impeaching president bill clinton. He served as george w. Bushs white House Counsel and Staff Secretary before he was nominated to be a federal judge in 2006. He was confirmed at that time by a vote of 5736. Now, Brett Kavanaughs nomination sets up an extremely
consequential confirmation battle. Within minutes of trumps announcement, several Top Democrats voicing their intention to vote against him. Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer put out a saying that b
quite have eyes into, whitaker, mueller, rosenstein and that justice department. you ve got to imagine there are some interesting conversations happening there, josh. yeah, i think, you know, one thing everything that everybody says about matt whitaker, why the president put him there, all that stuff, 100% right. but i do think we underestimate to an extent the degree to which rod rosenstein, bob mueller, all these players are big power players who have deep roots in washington, know the bureaucratic angles, and matt whitaker is not from that world and doesn t know the space. he may be more vulnerable. that s a good point. josh marshall and betsy woodruff, thank you both. still ahead, midterm results are still coming in. they re still counting votes. tonight the florida senate race is so closes the officially headed to a hand recount.
so, of course, trump when trump sees matt whitaker, he thinks bob mueller, he sees those two men as being inseparably connected. another dynamic we don t quite have eyes into, whitaker, mueller, rosenstein and that justice department. you ve got to imagine there are some interesting conversations happening there, josh. yeah, i think, you know, one thing everything that everybody says about matt whitaker, why the president put him there, all that stuff, 100% right. but i do think we underestimate to an extent the degree to which rod rosenstein, bob mueller, all these players are big power players who have deep roots in washington, know the bureaucratic angles, and matt whitaker is not from that world and doesn t know the space. he may be more vulnerable. that s a good point. josh marshall and betsy
judge brett kavanaugh to fill the vacancy. nbc news justice correspondent pete williams has more on this. reporter: yasmin, in brett kavanaugh president trump has chosen someone with deep roots in washington and politics and the law. president trump announced the nomination and praised brett kavanaugh as a solid conservative. judge kavanaugh has impeccable credentials, unsurpassed qualifications and a proven commitment to equal justice under the law. a judge must be independent and must interpret the law, not make the law. the judge must interpret statutes as written and a judge must interpret the constitution as written, informed by history and tradition and precedent. more than any of the others on the president s shot list, brett kavanaugh knows his way around washington. he grew up in nearby maryland