Page 3 - Morrisonv Olson News Today

Is now before me as a nominee to serve on the supreme court. so ive got a question. would you vote to overturn morrison? >> senator, first of all, i if -- cora matsu has been overturned and buckview is a disgrace. >> so you say oh, this 30-year-old decision about a statute long gone, thats the one im going to hold up to get rid of. >> i really did have justice kagans comment foremost in mind. i thought she already talked about morrison v. olson. >> nothing to do with the view of presidential pow...

Prosecutors. i dont mean to get too arcane but there was a law called the ethics and government act where a panel of judges appointed the prosecutors and ken starr was one of them for whom judge cavanaugh worked. thats what was upheld in morrison v. olson. . hessian i dont think there is much legal controversy over whether robert mueller has the legal authority to do what hes doing. we can debate about whether hes doing a good job but i dont think there is the same kind of controversy and were s...

President. the real issue is a subpoena which is very likely to wind up before the supreme court. can the court force donald trump to comply with the grand jury subpoena if mueller issues one? thats very likely to be before the court and i think if you look at kavanaughs history, i think the likely answer is no, he can -- the court wont force the president to testify before judge kavanaugh is a very big believer in presidential power. >> what about jeffrey toobin just on that point also about sp...

I would put the final nail in. >> here, here. >> questions along these lines are going to be front and center at the hearing, and kavanaughs view on independent counsel, whether or not the president could be indicted while in office or subpoenaed even for his testimony, how do you think he will handle those questions? >> this is an area where i think he actually cant say nothing because he has academic work and public speeches like that one -- >> he has a track record? >> he has a record that is...

Of power. >> he has taken this process and really molded it and changed it? >> i think so. and i think -- i argued back at the end of president obamas term that even if you didnt want as a conservative, i didnt want another liberal justice on the bench. i thought merrick garland deserved a term. >> certainly there are a lot of democrats who agree with that. they are still very angry about that. as we wrap up here i want to play some sound that we have from brett kavanaugh talking about the indep...

Morrison v. olson. >> it has been effectively overruled, but i would put the final nail in. >> he worked in the independent counsel law part of ken starrs clinton investigation. >> unclear what he thinks about the mueller investigation since there is a difference. the special counsel answers to the justice department and an independent counsel answers to no one effectively. jim jordan confirming he has been interviewed in the sexual abuse case of team doctor richard strauss. jordan said he did...

Overturning is deeply, deeply troubling. we already know he believes the president shouldnt be investigated while in office. that the president cant be indicted while in office. that a president doesnt have to follow laws that the president deems, his words, unconstitutional. clearly, judge kavanaughs judicial philosophy incorporates executive power and accountability animated by a belief that our chief executive gets to play by a different set of rules. judge kavanaugh particularly after this i...

Overturn. take a listen. >> can you think of a case that deserves to be overturned? >> yes. >> would you volunteer one? >> no. >> pending confirmation hearings, yes, sir, right here. >> thank you very much. >> actually, im going to say one. morrison v. olson. >> they said thats the independent counsel statute. >> its been effectively overruled, but i would put the final nail in. >> here, here. >> again, important to emphasize it was from 2016. the case he was referencing there, morrison versus o...

Into the supreme court nominee brett kavanaugh. two years ago speaking at a conservative think thank, judge kavanaugh spoke scornfully of the old law governing independent counsel governme investigations. >> i think justices of all stripes agree that its important but not an inexorable command. its not inflexible or absolute. >> can you think of a case that deserves to be overturned? >> yes. >> would you volunteer one? >> no. im going to say one. morrison v. olson. >> they said thats the indepen...

Deserves to be overturned? >> yes. [ laughter ] >> would you volunteer one? >> no. actually, i was going to say one. morrison v. olson. >> thats the independent counsel statute case. >> its been effectively overruled but i would put the final nail in. >> reporter: wolf, the republican chairman of the senate judiciary committee chuck grassley told me earlier he does not view this has a big deal but democrats trying to press him on this very hard in his confirmation hearings. >> well see what happ...