Former Kavanaugh Law Clerk Reveals What He Was Like Behind the Scenes
This is the kind of look at President Donald Trump’s choice for the Supreme Court that Democrats don’t want America to see.
In a piece for Fox News, a former law clerk for Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh portrayed a man both deeply devoted to the law and his family.
Amit Agarwal, who served as his clerk between 2006 and 2007, wrote that while “most Americans had never heard of Judge Brett Kavanaugh,” Agarwal was intimately familiar with the man and what he was like.
“During his 12 years on the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, Judge Kavanaugh has had many law clerks. It was my immense good fortune to be one of them,” Agarwal wrote.
“Much has been said about Judge Kavanaugh’s brilliance, judicial temperament and commitment to the rule of law. As law clerks, we saw those qualities in action every day. But we also got to know the judge as a human being. As the confirmation process gets underway, I hope the Senate and the nation will too. They will like what they see.
“For example, Judge Kavanaugh is a devoted husband and father of two girls. Back when I worked for him, he was a brand new dad,” Agarwal recalled. “I still remember the judge beaming as he played hide-and-go-seek in chambers with his 1-year-old daughter, who would laugh and shriek with delight as he sang her name out loud while inching closer and closer to her hiding spot. Eleven years later, he continues to relish his role as a father.
“Judge Kavanaugh is the author of almost 300 judicial opinions, sits on the nation’s most influential federal appeals court, and teaches a course on the separation of powers at Harvard. But somehow he finds time to coach both of his girls’ basketball teams.”
Agarwal also noted how Kavanaugh, who has a reputation for helping others, attends the weddings of his clerks, has frequent lunches with them and takes them out to Washington Nationals games.
“Of course, it wasn’t all fun and games,” Agarwal wrote. “Clerking for Judge Kavanaugh was hard work. I remember he was toiling away on New Year’s Day and expected us to be there too. Late that afternoon, the judge walked over to where my co-clerks and I were working. He looked uncharacteristically sad. Then we found out why.
“Judge Kavanaugh explained that his wife ‘called and said we all have to call it a day and go home.’ I couldn’t help laughing. Like it or not, the judge was always candid in acknowledging – and gracious in following – controlling authority.”
Agarwal didn’t mind the work and still counts Kavanaugh as one of the major influences in his life.
“It has been 11 years since I left the judge’s chambers, and eight years since I’ve moved to Florida with my family,” Agarwal wrote. “I still call him for guidance whenever I have to make an important decision. His response is always the same: He listens carefully, offers his own view, and then asks a simple but extraordinarily generous question: ‘How can I help?’
“I can count on one hand the number of people in my life who regularly ask me that question and mean it. It is astonishing to me that one of them is a former boss who also happens to be one of the most distinguished judges in the country.”
“Over the years, Judge Kavanaugh has helped me and his other clerks in countless ways. Most of all, he has taught us what it means to be a good and decent man, who works tirelessly and strives for perfection, but still finds time for family, friends, and the things that really matter,” Agarwal concluded.
“This is the Judge Kavanaugh I know and admire, and from whom I have learned so much. I was proud to work for him, and I hope the country will get to know that man as well.”
Of course, I’m sure this is being put through the spin machine somewhere, be it on Twitter or the pages of HuffPo. Considering that Democrats are so desparate to attack Kavanaugh that The Washington Post made a story out of how Kavanaugh was an elitist for liking Budweiser and talking with his local bartender, I’m sure that a paean to his character like Agarwal’s can be turned into an attack — somehow.
However, what this clerk had to say makes the picture on President Trump’s Supreme Court nominee even clearer than it was before: People who know him best say Brett Kavanaugh is a man of principle and conviction, an astute legal mind as well as a caring individual. He deserves America’s support.
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