Booker: ‘I’m Deeply Concerned’ About Kavanaugh, ‘We Cannot Let This Confirmation Process Go Forward’
RUSH TRANSCRIPT:
MADDOW: "CNN reported earlier this evening that that factor about judge Kavanaugh, his writings on whether a president can be indicted about a president's potential susceptibility of obstruction of justice charges, those writings by judge Kavanaugh were overtly considered and reviewed by the White House team that was advising the president on making this pick. If that's true, if it turns out the president chose judge Kavanaugh for this nomination in part on what he said about whether President Trump could be indicted, would that itself be a factor for confirmation? Would that be disqualifying?"
BOOKER: "First, I have no doubt this president who seems to be very concerned about himself, didn't see that as a shining pearl within the picks that he had and the criteria that he looked at. I've been saying emphatically before this and now with even stronger voice that we as the United States Senate, forget partisanship or what have you, to avoid a constitutional crisis, we cannot let this confirmation process go forward. Especially since we have someone who said they have a strong opinion should any of those issues come before the Supreme Court. We know now the ideas that you president can pardon himself. Whether he can just dispense with a criminal investigation. A lot of these issues could come right before that judge."
MADDOW: "You are a trained lawyer and you have expert opinions on these things as well as observing them through a political lens. The way I understand judge Kavanagh's writing on this subject is not just that that he said a president cannot and should not be indicted, but that he said a president shouldn't be subject to criminal prosecution or any civil lawsuits while in office. That a president should be except while if office as a way to ensure that he is able to focus, a president is able to focus entirely on the business of running the country. That's interesting given his history with the Ken Starr investigation. I believe he was the lead author of the Ken Starr report. This would seem to have potential liability for not just the Mueller investigation but any liability that may affect the trump foundation or the summer lawsuit or the emolument cases that have been brought."
BOOKER: "We know this president is already nose deep in legal matters best even became president and was settling with millions of dollars beforehand. Now he has a lot of legal trouble. The challenge this is president could have cause for himself, now he has that insurance policy. He has this get out of jail free card. And sifting through 20 plus names, as well as all the others he could have considered, he picked this one. It was not just that he said a president couldn't be indicted or held accountable for his actions. He goes as far as to say even an investigation. Even being in the midst of a larger investigation. This could distract a president from other urgent work. It is a choice piece of irony that this was a person very much a political actor before he was a jurist that was a part of the Starr investigation himself. So I am deeply troubled. That this is a person who is going to roll back so many of the freedoms and liberties that Americans have gained for themselves over 50 years. Whether it is a woman's right with medical conditions, voting rights, the right to organize, the right for individuals to have the rights of citizenship like voting rights. People on both sides of the aisle worrying about ascendancy. We already saw it is so muted the voices of ordinary Americans and the billion of dollars now that we see dark money pouring in. This trend now with the shifting of the court, that should be enough to cause outrage. I am really stunned what's happened over the last six months with a nation fwakd the Russians, which as up, there has been 70 plus charges. 20 plus sprids have been subject to those charges. Five guilty pleas. One sentence. People all swirling around this president. We have a bipartisan group on the Senate side saying the Russians did indeed attack us. All of this is going on now and it is like I'm watching a bad movie. That now the president of the United States has indem any identified himself by picking the one person he knew would have his back. The one person who would give him shield from anything that might come at him. Even though we see that people are under investigation right now."
