Kavanaugh dodges debate over subpoenaing a president

Source: Politico




The president's Supreme Court nominee is facing a day of contentious questioning.

By ELANA SCHOR 09/05/2018 09:01 AM EDT Updated 09/05/2018 11:30 AM EDT

Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh on Wednesday declined to address whether a sitting president can be subpoenaed, sidestepping one of the most contentious possible outcomes of special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation of President Donald Trump.

As questioning of Kavanaugh began on the second day of his Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing, he told Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) that he could not answer the “potential hypothetical” of requiring a president to respond to a subpoena while in office. His avoidance comes as Trump’s legal team vows to take the fight over any possible Mueller subpoena of the president to the Supreme Court – where Kavanaugh could sit as soon as next month.

“We’re going to have crisis moments at the Supreme Court on things we can’t even predict, and we need people on the Supreme Court who are prepared for that,” Kavanaugh – who has indicated that a sitting president cannot be indicted – told Feinstein before declining to answer her subpoena question.

Mueller remains in talks with Trump’s legal team over an interview or written responses to questions in the special counsel’s probe of Russian interference in the 2016 election, including questions of whether the president obstructed justice. Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani said last month that he is ready to challenge any Mueller subpoena “before the Supreme Court, if it ever got there.”

Read more: https://www.politico.com/story/2018/09/05/kavanaugh-hearings-abortion-supreme-court-806568