During his confirmation hearing on Wednesday, Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh stated US v. Nixon is one of the best moments in the Supreme Court’s history and would not say whether the president can be required to a respond to a subpoena on the grounds that such a matter is hypothetical.
Kavanaugh said, “I have repeatedly called US v. Nixon one of the four greatest moments in Supreme Court history.”
Senate Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) then asked, “Was it rightly decided?”
Kavanaugh responded, “I’ve said, yes, that a — the court’s holding that a criminal trial subpoena to a president, in the context of the special counsel regulations in that case, for information, a criminal trial subpoena for information, under the specific regulations in that case, I have said that holding is one of the four greatest moments in Supreme Court history.”
Feinstein then asked, “Can a sitting president be required to respond to a subpoena?”
Kavanaugh answered, “So, that’s a hypothetical question about what would be an elaboration or a difference from US v. Nixon’s precise holding. And I think, going with the Justice Ginsburg principle, which is really not the Justice Ginsburg alone principle. It’s everyone’s principle on the current Supreme Court, and as a matter of the canons of judicial independence, I can’t give you an answer on that hypothetical question.”
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