Trump picks Brett Kavanaugh for Supreme Court

Brett Kavanaugh, a federal appellate court judge based in Washington, D.C., is his pick to replace outgoing Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy — a nominee who, if confirmed, will cement a conservative majority on the nation’s highest court.

Trump made the announcement from the East Room of the White House.

“I’ve often heard that, other than matters of war and peace, this is the most important decision a president will make,” Trump said. “The Supreme Court is entrusted with the safeguarding of the crown jewel of our Republic, the Constitution of the United States.”

“Judge Kavanaugh has impeccable credentials, unsurpassed qualifications and a proven commitment to equal justice under the law,” the president continued. “Throughout legal circles he is considered a judge’s judge, a true thought leader among his peers. He is a brilliant jurist with a clear and effective writing style universally regarded as one of the finest and sharpest legal minds of our time.”

Kavanaugh told Trump was “grateful” and “humbled by your confidence in me.”

“Throughout this process I have witnessed first hand your appreciation for the vital role of the American judiciary. No president has ever consulted more widely or talked with more people from more backgrounds to seek input about a Supreme Court nomination,” Kavanaugh said. “Justice Kennedy devoted his career to securing liberty. I am deeply honored to fill his seat on the Supreme Court.”

He added: “My judicial philosophy is straightforward: A judge must be independent and must interpret the law, not make the law. A judge must interpret statutes as written and a judge must interpret as written, informed by history and tradition and precedent.”

Kavanaugh worked closely with independent counsel Kenneth Starr during the Whitewater investigation of President Bill Clinton. As documented in the latest episode of the Yahoo News podcast “Skullduggery,” Kavanaugh debunked the conspiracy theories that the Clintons were responsible for former aide Vince Foster’s death before becoming the primary author of the report laying out the case for Clinton’s impeachment. Kavanaugh was concerned with the more explicit sexual details of the report and attempted to redact them just before its publication.

One of the possible grounds for Clinton’s impeachment in Kavanaugh’s report was the fact Clinton lied to his aides and the American public via his press team. In a 2009 piece for the Minnesota Law Review, Kavanaugh said that he believed presidents should not be subject to civil lawsuits or criminal investigations in office because they were “time-consuming and distracting.”

After assisting in George W. Bush’s efforts in the 2000 Florida recount, Kavanaugh joined the White House, first as a counsel to the president and then as a staff secretary. Bush nominated Kavanaugh for a position on the D.C. Circuit in July 2003, but his confirmation took nearly three years because Democrats contended he was too partisan for the federal bench. Kavanaugh was called an “unqualified judicial nominee” by the New York Times before his May 2006 confirmation on a 57-36 vote. In 2016, the conservative National Review wrote said that Kavanaugh’s opinions were “clear, consistent, thorough, and thoughtful” and had an “analytical clarity” that would make the late Supreme Court Justice Anthony Scalia proud.