Kavanaugh Is Asked About His Loyalty, Immediately Whips Out Tattered Constitution
In the second day of confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh on Thursday, senators continued to ask the D.C. Circuit Court judge where his loyalties would lie if he ever had to choose between the law and President Donald Trump.
In less than a second, he let them know exactly what the answer was.
The exchange started when Utah Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch asked Kavanaugh about his loyalties.
“Some of my colleagues have suggested that President Trump nominated you because he thought that you would rule in his favor should certain issues come before the court,” Hatch said.
“Suppose you had a case involving President Trump,” he continued, “or an issue near and dear to the president, what assurances can you provide that you will not allow the president’s personal views on a case or personal interests impact your decision.”
Kavanaugh waited for a second and fired back,:
“Senator, I’m an independent judge. For 12 years, I’ve been deciding cases based on the law.”
He said that he would be on a “team of nine” that would decide cases based on the Constitution of the United States “without fear of favor, independently without pressure from any quarter.”
Kavanaugh went on to say that the person who “had the best arguments on the law” is the person who would win.
Hatch pressed him further.
“If, at the end of the process, this process, you are confirmed to the Supreme Court, which I expect you will be, what sort of loyalty will you owe to the president? How will that loyalty differ from the loyalty of, say, the American people?”
When asked where his loyalty would lie if he were sworn in, Kavanaugh pulled out his pocket constitution and said
"I owe my loyalty to the Constitution. That’s what I owe loyalty to. The Constitution establishes me as an independent judge bound to follow the law as written." pic.twitter.com/lzSA0vaz6F
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) September 5, 2018
Kavanaugh didn’t skip a beat.
“Senator, if confirmed to the Supreme Court, and as a sitting judge, I owe my loyalty to the Constitution.”
It was then that he held up a worn out, tattered personal-sized copy of the Constitution of the United States.
“That’s what I owe loyalty to. The Constitution establishes me as an independent judge bound to follow the law as written,” he said.
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