Kavanaugh avoids pointed questions from Harris, Feinstein on presidential powers and abortion rights
In more than 12 hours of grueling questioning, Kavanaugh appeared to avoid damaging sound bites. He declined to say whether he believed the president could be forced to respond to a subpoena, whether the president could pardon himself, whether the president could be charged with a crime, whether he believes the Roe v. Wade decision was correctly decided, and whether he would recuse himself from cases about
Kavanaugh, a federal appeals court judge, cited the example of past nominees in refusing to discuss his personal views.
One of the more dramatic moments came late in the day when
Kavanaugh, briefly speechless, said he didn't know everyone who worked at the firm. "I would like to know the person you're thinking of," Kavanaugh told Harris.
"I think you're thinking of someone and you don't want to tell us," Harris responded.
A Democratic aide said later that
In pushing Kavanaugh on his views on the Roe v. Wade, Harris also asked Kavanaugh if he could "think of any laws that give the government the power to make decisions about the male body."
"I'm not thinking of any right now, senator," Kavanaugh replied.
Harris' questioning capped a long day in the hot seat for Kavanaugh in which he presented himself as a straightforward judge dedicated to the
The hearing was peppered with interruptions from protesters in the gallery demanding senators oppose his nomination.
Sen.
Kavanaugh worked on the independent counsel investigation of former President
During the hearing, Feinstein urged him to explain why his opinion had changed.
"What changed was
He also said that the stance he took in the law review article represented "ideas for
But when Feinstein asked him if a sitting president could be required to respond to a subpoena, Kavanaugh responded that "I can't give you an answer on that hypothetical question," citing the typical practice of
Kavanaugh also declined to answer a question from Sen.
"I'm not going to answer," Kavanaugh said.
"I hope for the sake of the country that remains a hypothetical question," Leahy responded.
And he refused to commit to recuse himself from cases involving potential criminal or civil liability for Trump.
In another exchange, Leahy suggested that Kavanaugh may have misled senators during his 2006 hearing for a seat on the
"I'm concerned because there is evidence that
Kavanaugh said he had no memory of meetings with Miranda and that he had been "100 percent accurate" in his past confirmation hearing.
He also told multiple senators he had no knowledge of sexual harassment by federal appeals court Judge
On another crucial topic, Kavanaugh declined to say whether he believed the Roe v. Wade decision protecting abortion rights was correctly decided. But he told Feinstein that it was an "important precedent of the
She reminded him that before abortion was legal, "a lot of women died in that period," saying, "I don't want to go back to those death tolls."
"I understand your point of view on that and I understand how passionately and deeply people feel about the issue," Kavanaugh told Feinstein. "I don't live in a bubble."
While it appears likely
Meanwhile,
Trump had a more positive review. "I saw some incredible answers to very complex questions," the president said at the
Over the course of the grueling day of questioning, Kavanaugh repeatedly avoiding making statements about his personal views, instead steering lines of questioning back to existing
He avoided saying whether he believed there was a place for race in college admissions.
He deflected questions about whether he would uphold the part of former President
And he declined to comment on Trump's recent tweet suggesting that Attorney General
Instead, Kavanaugh described himself as an independent thinker dedicated to the constitution, while also highlighting his hiring of diverse law clerks.
"I don't get to pick and choose which
Kavanaugh will continue to face questions from the senators on Thursday.
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