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
that judge kavanaugh stand ready to testify. he s ready to clear his name. he was ready to do that. t mercedes, with all due respect, i have so much respect for you, i don t think it s possible for brett kavanaugh to go up there in this atmosphere and be expected we know he says he denies this. he hasll said this in letters ad statements tonight. i think it s a mistake to keep giving into these tactics. the tac tactics of the left, its like emotional blackmail and extortion. but this is hideous what they have done. you need a little more righteous indignation, not coming out of you, but some of the other senators on capitol hill. this is beyond the pale. you saw mitch mcconnell
let s talk about judge kavanaugh. we know he has a long list, shall we say many decisions and writings that a lot of people will sift through from both sides of the aisle to make sure they re making the correct vote or not. we also know a lot of democrats are going to seize on his stance with regards to roe v. wade. that has been the talk really of washington and out side of washington in the lead-up to president trump s announcement from last night. where does kavanaugh stand on this. well, so the issue of roe v. wade is going to be enormously consequential to this confirmation hearing because brett kavanaugh could be the fifth vote on the supreme court. i emphasize could be, to overturn roe v. wade or at least weaken it substantially. you can imagine a scenario where a block of five solid conservative justices if kavanaugh is put on the court will up hold state laws that, you know, states like texas and mississippi tried to pass that would make abortion virtually inaccessible in pa
be beaten, stopped. very hard to stop. they don t have the votes. the importance with that republican days, for people, always a mystery why evangelical likes trump so much, it s because of this. they ve always pointed to the court. there s a lot of those voters sitting in red states that are going to put pressure on democrats to vote for him. yes. such a good point there. we know justice kennedy was really the swing vote in many major decisions on the supreme court. where does kavanaugh stand with regards to the ideological spectrum on the supreme court? the right. very much on the right. now you have a very conservative court. replacing kennedy, as sort of your deciders with roberts in the middle and much more conservative than kennedy was. neither side is being hyperbolic when you talk about someone on the supreme court a long time. it could be a long time before liberals have a chance to take back the court.