Kavanaugh hearing wraps up

WASHINGTON — After two marathon days questioning Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, senators concluded his confirmation hearing Friday by listening to others talk about him — friends stressing his fairness and warmth but opponents warning he’d roll back abortion rights and shield President Donald Trump.

One of the Democrats’ star witnesses was John Dean, Richard Nixon’s White House counsel who cooperated with prosecutors during the Watergate investigation. He told lawmakers that the high court with Kavanaugh on it would be “the most presidential powers-friendly court in the modern era.”

Dean argued in his testimony that conservatives have “slowly done a 180-degree turn” on executive power and that a Supreme Court that is overly deferential to the president is “deeply troubling,” with Republicans controlling both the House and Senate.

“Under Judge Kavanaugh’s recommendation, if a president shot someone in cold blood on Fifth Avenue that president could not be prosecuted while in office,” Dean told senators, a reference to Trump’s campaign line that he could act that way and not lose support.

He elaborated on his prepared testimony to the committee, in which he said: “There is much to fear from an unchecked president who is inclined to abuse his powers. That is a fact I can attest to from personal experience.”

Dean was a key witness during the congressional Watergate hearings in 1973, recounting how he told Nixon that there was a “cancer” growing on the presidency. Nixon resigned in 1974.

Dean was charged with obstruction of justice for his role in the Watergate cover-up and spent four months in prison. Some Republican senators on the committee were highly critical of his role.

“I think you and your co-conspirators hurt my country,” Sen. John Neely Kennedy, R-La., told Dean. While he ultimately did the right thing, Kennedy added that “you only did it when you were cornered like a rat and it’s hard for me to take your testimony seriously.”

Kavanaugh has held an expansive view of executive powers, and his opinions have been a major focal point for Democrats during his confirmation hearings to replace retired Justice Anthony Kennedy. Under questioning, Kavanaugh declined to say whether a president is subject to a subpoena or whether he can pardon himself. The judge also declined to say whether he would recuse himself from cases involving special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election should they reach the Supreme Court.

Kavanaugh said it would be improper for him to weigh in on matters that could come before the court.

Abortion was another main focus throughout the hearing, with Democrats portraying Kavanaugh as a judge who might vote to undercut or overturn the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision establishing a constitutional right to abortion. Senate Democrats, in the minority 51-49, hope to appeal to two Republican senators who support abortion rights to break from their party and vote against Kavanaugh.

On Friday, New York University law professor Melissa Murray told lawmakers that Kavanaugh would provide the “necessary fifth vote that would utterly eviscerate” Roe v. Wade.

Senate Democrats had worked into the night Thursday on Kavanaugh’s final day of questioning in a last attempt to paint him as a foe of abortion rights.

But the 53-year-old appellate judge provided only glimpses of his judicial stances while avoiding any serious mistakes that might jeopardize his confirmation.

On the Republican side, American Bar Association officials detailed how Kavanaugh achieved a unanimous “well qualified” rating from the lawyers group. Paul Moxley, the chairman of the group’s standing committee on the federal judiciary, said the rating “reflects the consensus of his peers” and that the association did 120 personal interviews and reached out to about 500 people to assess Kavanaugh.

When asked whether Kavanaugh

was a mainstream jurist, John Tarpley, another association official, responded: “Absolutely. He’s at the top of the stream.”

Several witnesses called by Republicans detailed their personal relationships with Kavanaugh and how the judge has been a mentor and teacher, whether in court or in a classroom.

Luke McCloud, a former Kavanaugh law clerk, noted that 13 of Kavanaugh’s 48 clerks are racial minorities, a percentage he said was “nearly unheard of among his judicial peers.” Another witness — Colleen Roh Sinzdak — clerked for Kavanaugh’s colleague, D.C. Circuit Chief Judge Merrick Garland whose 2016 nomination to the Supreme Court was obstructed by Senate Republicans.

While she said the judiciary and the country “suffered greatly” because Garland was blocked, Sinzdak stressed that it shouldn’t preclude confirming Kavanaugh, whom she called a “brilliant, fair and kind jurist.”

“Throughout his legal career, I’ve heard nothing but the highest praise for Judge Kavanaugh as a human being, as a lawyer, and as a judge,” said Ted Olson, the former solicitor general under President George W. Bush. “As far as I can tell, and as far as I have heard, he is uniformly respected by his peers on the D.C. circuit.”

Other witnesses testifying in support of Kavanaugh talked about his intelligence and open-mindedness, calling him “thoughtful,” “humble,” “wonderfully warm” and a “fair-minded and independent jurist.”

Yale law school professor Akhil Reed Amar, a liberal testifying in support of Kavanaugh, had a message for Democratic senators: “Don’t be mad. He’s smart. Be careful what you wish for. Our party controls neither the White House nor the Senate. If you torpedo Kavanaugh you’ll likely end up with someone worse.”

Trump, campaigning in Fargo, N.D., said the Democrats had made fools of themselves and said he was looking forward to running against “one of those people” in 2020. Committee members Cory Booker of New Jersey and Kamala Harris of California are among the Democrats considered possible candidates in the next presidential campaign.

At an earlier rally in Montana, Trump praised Kavanaugh’s progress toward confirmation to the Supreme Court but decried the “anger and the meanness on the other side” and the Democrats’ “sick” behavior.

“It’s embarrassing to watch those people make fools of themselves as they scream and shout at this great gentleman,” Trump said.

Senators on the Judiciary Committee are likely to vote on Kavanaugh’s confirmation on Sept. 20 with a vote by the full Senate the following week. Republicans hope to confirm the judge in time for the first day of court’s new term, Oct. 1.