There were a "number of ways" Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh's testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee last week was "deeply troubling," including his reluctance to disagree with a congressional or presidential order banning people coming into the United States based on their race, Sen. Chris Coons, a committee member, said Monday.
"This was one exchange," the Delaware Democrat told MSNBC's "Morning Joe." "Another was an exchange that I had with him about presidential power."
Kavanaugh, he continued, has written "repeatedly" that he thinks a president should be able to fire a special counsel who is investigating him.
"This is directly relevant," said Coons, noting that when asked, the one case Kavanaugh would like to "put the nail in the coffin" of is Morrison vs. Olson, which has to do with presidential power.
"He clammed up and really would not answer that question in front of our panel," said Coons. However, he said he would not answer a question concerning a ruling from the 1800s that had allowed Chinese immigrants to be banned.
"The fact he wasn't willing to offer that was deeply puzzling to me," said Coons. "It may reveal a willingness to allow presidential power, a scope and a reach that would be chilling to many of us in terms of the Immigration space."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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