Justice Kavanaugh Past Comments Reveal Contradictions on Presidential Immunity

Ahead of the Supreme Court’s oral arguments tomorrow in the high-profile case concerning the limits of presidential immunity, new Accountable.US research highlights Justice Kavanaugh’s contradictory past comments on the matter:

• During his SCOTUS confirmation hearings, Kavanaugh stated that “the executive branch is subject to the law, subject to the court system” and that “no one is above the law in our constitutional system.”

• In a 2009 Minnesota Law Review article, Kavanaugh argued that Congress should pass a law shielding sitting presidents from prosecution but assured that presidents must still face justice after leaving office.

• In a 1998 Georgetown Law Journal article, Kavanaugh repeatedly stated that former presidents were subject to prosecution, going as far as to write that “there is simply no danger that [a president’s] crimes would go criminally unpunished; the only question is when they can be punished.”

However, during his confirmation hearing, Kavanaugh claimed he had “never taken a position” on the constitutional question of presidential immunity and “would have a completely open mind.” This blatant self-contradiction takes on new meaning as oral arguments in Trump v. United States loom.

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