Clinton Supporter and Liberal Attorney Jumps Ship, Openly Endorses Kavanaugh for Supreme Court
If all of Brett Kavanaugh’s testimony couldn’t sway liberal Democrats in the Senate from voting for his nomination to the Supreme Court, perhaps one of their own can.
In her appearance before the Judiciary Committee on Tuesday, Lisa Blatt supported Brett Kavanaugh and “urge(d) the Senate to confirm him as the next associate justice of the Supreme Court.”
That doesn’t sound so convincing until you realize Blatt is an accomplished attorney and self-described “liberal Democrat” who supported Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. She’s also, according to facts cited by the Daily Wire, argued 35 cases before the Supreme Court (winning 33) and was considered “one of the 100 most influential lawyers in America” by National Law Journal.
And wait until you hear her favorite Supreme Court justice.
“I am … a liberal Democrat and an unapologetic defender of a woman’s right to choose,” Blatt told the committee. “My hero is Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, for whom I had the great fortune of serving as a law clerk. I proudly voted for Hillary Clinton. I voted for President Obama twice. And with my apologies, Mr. Chairman, for this one, I wish Sen. Feinstein were chairing this committee. And yet I am here today to introduce Judge Kavanaugh, and urge the Senate to confirm him as the next associate justice of the Supreme Court.
“I’ve received many angry calls from friends and even strangers for supporting Judge Kavanaugh, but I was raised to call it like I see it, and I don’t see the choice before you as difficult,” Blatt added. “By any objective measure, Judge Kavanaugh is clearly qualified to serve on the Supreme Court. After law school, he clerked for Justice Anthony Kennedy, the justice he would succeed.
“He spent 12 years on the nation’s most prestigious Court of Appeals, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. His opinions are invariably thoughtful and fair, and many are known as instant classics — not just because they are important, but because they are written so clearly and well. The Supreme Court has adopted the reasoning in his opinions more than a dozen times.”
Blatt went on to praise Kavanaugh’s “judicial temperament and integrity” and his teaching. She also noted that the American Bar Association had stated “he meets the very highest standards of integrity, professional competence, and judicial temperament.”
“On a personal level, I just can’t say enough nice things about the judge,” Blatt said. “I first met him almost 10 years ago when he emailed me completely out of the blue to say that he liked an article I had written about arguing before the Supreme Court. Since then, we’ve become friends, and he has become a mentor to me in my career.
“Judge Kavanaugh has spent countless hours listening to me talk about the challenges I have faced as a working mother in a profession dominated by men. He has been a great source of advice on these and many other issues about work-life balance. He understands that life is not always perfect, and he responds to life’s challenges with a self-deprecating sense of humor.”
And here’s the quote that all of those critics who claim Kavanaugh’s confirmation would be terrible for women wish would remain buried.
“More generally, Judge Kavanaugh has been remarkably committed to promoting women in the legal profession,” Blatt said. “More than half of his law clerks have been women — something that is sadly by no means common. And almost all of his clerks, women and men, have gone on to clerk at the Supreme Court, including for Justices Kagan and Sotomayor.”
Blatt also pointed out to the Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee — who constantly champion the idea of norms — weren’t really following them in this case.
“Now, if it were up to me, Justice Ginsburg would have all nine votes — but that’s not our system, and the reality is that the presidency and the Senate are in Republican hands. Judge Kavanaugh is the best choice that liberals could reasonably hope for in these circumstances,” she said.
“I am sure that some members of the Senate knew that they would disagree with Justice Ginsburg’s legal views when she was a nominee, but Justice Ginsburg was confirmed 96 to 3. This body has obviously treated some nominees differently since then to the detriment of our courts.”
In short, not only did Blatt endorse Kavanaugh, she chided (albeit gently) her own side for what it had done to the judicial nomination process.
The media, quite typically, focused on the Democrat theatrics in the committee. The most important testimony to them — and to the Democrats — could have just come on the first day, from someone who wasn’t even being nominated and probably doesn’t agree with the person doing the nomination.
It’s insightful how often the story can get missed when those reporting it are very conspicuously looking for something else.
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