Judge Kavanaugh’s Mainstream Views on Independent Counsels
Judge
Kavanaugh’s views on independent counsels are widely shared by Democrats and
Republicans
· Justice Kagan on Scalia’s dissent in Morrison
v. Olson, lambasting the independent counsel statute: “one of the greatest dissents ever
written and every year it gets better.”
· Eric Holder on statute: “too flawed to be renewed”
· Janet Reno on statute: “…flawed and those flaws cannot
be corrected within our constitutional framework.”
Congress
agreed that the independent counsel statute was flawed and let it expire in
1999
· On the heels of the Whitewater
investigation conducted by Independent Counsel Ken Starr targeting the
Clintons, a Republican-controlled opted not to renew the flawed law
· Democrat Senator Dick Durbin said at the time that independent counsels were “unchecked, unbridled, unrestrained, and
unaccountable.”
Judge
Kavanaugh advocated for a framework that promoted greater
independence in investigations.
· In a 1998 article, Judge Kavanaugh proposed a
structure substantially similar to today’s special counsel framework.
· Judge Kavanaugh’s proposal would
also require Senate confirmation to insulate the special prosecutor from
political attack.
