Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearings are already one of the most heated and consequential political battles in recent memory, and many Democrats in the Senate are arguing that the judge holds dangerous legal views that make him unfit to become a Supreme Court Justice. In the midst of such a controversial debate, it becomes essential to ask the question: Does Judge Kavanaugh’s 1996 legal essay “Donald Trump Should Be Allowed To Commit Crimes If He Becomes President” disqualify him from the Supreme Court?
Every Justice’s interpretation of the U.S. Constitution is bound to vary in one direction on the political spectrum or another, but Kavanaugh’s 1996 assertion that, in the event of Donald Trump being elected to the U.S. presidency, Trump should be allowed to carry out criminal acts with zero legal repercussions is an unprecedented stance for a Supreme Court nominee.
Republicans and Democrats alike must take into consideration Kavanaugh’s staunch belief that “if Donald Trump ever becomes president, then he can steal from people and also do other, more serious crimes” before they decide whether he’s a good choice for the Supreme Court.
As Kavanaugh’s contentious confirmation hearings continue over the next several days, you can expect Democrats to call Kavanaugh’s qualifications into question by homing in on passages like this one:
I watched a 60 Minutes segment that had Donald Trump on it last night, and wow, was I impressed. I could not help but watch it over and over and over again. As a student of law, hearing Donald Trump express that he is rich and even has a friend who is a beauty model thoroughly convinced me that if there’s ever a day when he is the president Of The United States, he should be permitted, without limitations, to break any and every law he so chooses to. In fact, if Donald Trump were to go as far as colluding with a foreign nation to interfere with America’s democratic process while running for office, I’d do everything in my legal power to make sure that he’d be able to pardon himself even if he was found guilty.
Republicans will surely argue in support of Kavanaugh by claiming he is a strict Constitutionalist and citing his successful legal career, but when one reads Kavanaugh’s essay and sees passages like “If Donald Trump was president and I happened to be a Supreme Court Justice, I would support a constitutional amendment that ensured Trump would never, ever go to jail, even for intentionally killing multiple people with one of his many awesome helicopters,” it raises several red flags that are not so easily ignored for either side of the political aisle.
The Senate has a difficult decision in front of it as it weighs the pros and cons of confirming a Supreme Court Justice who has written that “Donald Trump should get paid to commit treason.” Its decision will affect the country for decades to come, but it’s a complicated issue, and the right answer sadly remains unclear.
