WaPo Fact Check: Left’s Claim on Kavanaugh “An Extreme Distortion”

NOTE: The Washington Post is again debunking spurious claims from the Left about Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s record, describing the most recent attack as “an extreme distortion” and calling Kavanaugh’s opinion “a mainstream view.” Excerpts from the Washington Post are below.

 

“Does Brett Kavanaugh think the president is immune from criminal charges?”

Salvador Rizzo

July 11, 2018

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“His argument was that the president these days has many weighty responsibilities — wars, economic crises, the threat of terrorist attacks — and shouldn’t be encumbered by criminal investigations or charges, or civil lawsuits, while in office.”

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“Kavanaugh’s position in this article is different from saying the president can’t be indicted under existing law. If he thinks the law already bars an indictment of the sitting president, as some Democrats claim he does, why would he call on Congress to pass a law that shields the president from criminal charges?”

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“That’s a mainstream view. As we noted, the Justice Department Office of Legal Counsel has written two memos (in 1973 and 2000) saying the president can’t be indicted…”

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“…Kavanaugh never states his view whether the Constitution allows it. In fact, he says Congress should pass legislation to ensure the president is immune from civil and criminal proceedings while in office.”

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“Kavanaugh’s stated views on this question don’t go as far as Fallon, Maloney and Ocasio-Cortez claimed. Their tweets merit Two Pinocchios, although we considered giving Three. To say Kavanaugh is Trump’s ‘get-out-of-jail free card’ is an extreme distortion of what he’s written.”

 

Last week, the Washington Post also debunked the claim that the “Biden Rule” applies to midterm election years. The “Biden Rule” has always been about presidential election years, not midterm election years.

 

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