> > *Obama’s Resistance to Investigating the Bush Administration Allowed Brett > Kavanaugh to Skate Onto the Supreme Court* > <https://theintercept.com/2018/10/09/brett-kavanaugh-supreme-court-bush-administration/> > <https://theintercept.com/staff/eoin-higgins/> > Eoin Higgins <https://theintercept.com/staff/eoin-higgins/> > > https://theintercept.com/2018/10/09/brett-kavanaugh-supreme-court-bush-administration/ > October 9 2018, 9:08 a.m. > > *One of Barack* Obama’s first decisions after being elected president > continued to haunt the country over the weekend, as Brett Kavanaugh was > sworn in as the fifth hard-line conservative on the Supreme Court. > > In January 2009, George W. Bush left office with an abysmal 22 percent > approval rating > <https://www.cbsnews.com/news/bushs-final-approval-rating-22-percent/>, > the lowest ever recorded. Almost everyone with anything to do with his > administration was considered politically toxic. > > With full Democratic control of the federal government, calls came for an > investigation into the scandals of the Bush > administration, including torture, mass surveillance, and war profiteering. > While some called for criminal prosecutions, others wanted hearings or an > independent investigation that would — at minimum — put into the public > record the details of who did what and when. At the least, the argument > went, Democrats could ensure that the GOP had to wear the Bush > administration for years; that the officials involved in wrongdoing would > be written out of polite society; and that future administrations would not > revert to those practices. > > Obama refused. “We need to look forward as opposed to looking backwards,” > he said famously on January 11, 2009 > <https://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/12/us/politics/12inquire.html>, days > before he took office. > [image: Supreme Privilege]Read our complete coverageSupreme Privilege > <https://theintercept.com/collections/kavanaugh/> > > Had he looked forward far enough, he would have seen one of the chief > boosters of the torture program elevated to CIA director, and a Bush > administration attorney with complicity in a wide array of its most > controversial programs lifted up to the U.S. Supreme Court. > > Kavanaugh’s rise to the Supreme Court is the result of elite institutional > failure. The judge was sworn in > <https://www.cnn.com/2018/10/06/politics/kavanaugh-final-confirmation-vote/index.html> > by Chief Justice John Roberts on Saturday evening, even as demonstrators > banged > on the doors of the court <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IRnmnxVtDqg>. > “The road that led us here has been bitter, angry, and partisan,” said > Minority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer > <https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/06/us/politics/brett-kavanaugh-supreme-court.html?action=click&module=Spotlight&pgtype=Homepage> > on the Senate floor after the vote, “steeped in hypocrisy and hyperbole and > resentment and outrage.” > > Three allegations of sexual assault — the first was broken by The > Intercept > <https://theintercept.com/2018/09/12/brett-kavanaugh-confirmation-dianne-feinstein/> > — and and FBI investigation > <https://theintercept.com/2018/10/02/brett-kavanaugh-fbi-investigation/> > weren’t enough to sink Kavanaugh. Nor were indications of perjurious > testimony > <https://theintercept.com/2018/10/02/jeff-flake-wont-vote-for-brett-kavanaugh-if-hes-shown-to-have-lied-to-the-judiciary-committee-but-which-lies-matter/> > — in part because a trove of documents relating to Kavanaugh’s time with > the Bush administration > <https://theintercept.com/2018/10/05/brett-kavanaugh-susan-collins-bush/> that > is currently being analyzed by the National Archives, including emails and > memos about surveillance, torture, and Kavanaugh’s involvement with a > hacking scandal, won’t be released until the end of October. > > At least 100,000 documents relating to Kavanaugh’s involvement in > developing policy during his time as associate counsel to the president > from 2001 to 2003, and his time as staff secretary from 2003 to 2006, have > been withheld by the Trump administration, citing executive privilege. But > the National Archives revealed, in response to a lawsuit > <https://epic.org/foia/nara/kavanaugh/> from the Electronic Privacy > Information Center, that there are hundreds of emails in the separate, > 300,000 document cache that the agency is reviewing for publication. “The > communication to EPIC revealed that Kavanaugh sent 11 e-mails to John Yoo, > the architect of warrantless wiretapping; 227 e-mails about ‘surveillance’ > programs and the ‘Patriot Act;’ and 119 e-mails concerning ‘CAPPS II’ > (passenger profiling), ‘Fusion Centers’ (government surveillance centers), > and the Privacy Act,” EPIC said in a statement > <https://epic.org/2018/10/national-archives-confirms-exi.html> announcing > the revelation. > > With proper public understanding of Kavanaugh’s role in the unpopular > policies of of the Bush White House, that role may have been disqualifying > by itself. > > Bush first proposed Kavanaugh for a seat on the D.C. Circuit in 2003. His > nomination was part of the same game being played today, and that has been > played for decades: The right wing in America has steadily eroded any > liberal power on the bench since Ronald Reagan > <https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/commentisfree/2017/dec/12/donald-trump-right-wing-takeover-court-system>, > and the Democrats have been powerless to do much about it. After a lengthy > three-year process, punctuated by a number of harsh statements on the > nomination from Democratic senators, Kavanaugh was confirmed to the bench. > Sen. Patrick Leahy referred to the right-wing history of court-packing a > month later, while discussing the nominations of four other judges, > including Neil Gorsuch. “In the important D.C. Circuit,” Leahy said on the > Senate floor, “the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh was the culmination the > Republicans’ decade-long attempt to pack the D.C. Circuit that began with > the stalling of Merrick Garland’s nomination in 1996.” > > Both Kavanaugh’s time with the Bush administration and his involvement > with the administration’s controversial policies have been a constant > undercurrent to the Senate hearings on his nomination, but he largely > escaped serious scrutiny on that record — even though Kavanaugh continued > to advocate > <https://theintercept.com/2018/07/17/brett-kavanaugh-supreme-court-cia/> > for the worst of the security state from the bench. Senate Democrats > expressed their skepticism over Kavanaugh’s dissembling about the policies; > Kavanaugh told members of the Judiciary Committee in September that he was > “not read into that program, not involved in crafting that program nor > crafting the legal justifications for that program.” In a written response > <https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Kavanaugh%20Responses%20to%20Questions%20for%20the%20Record.pdf> > to a question posed by Sen. Dianne Feinstein on his involvement in the > program, Kavanaugh dispensed with the vague answers and made his position > clear. “I became aware of the program and the memos when they were publicly > disclosed in news reports in 2004,” wrote Kavanaugh. > > Kavanaugh says he had nothing to do with the Bush administration's torture > program pic.twitter.com/PkQS2yHWRC <https://t.co/PkQS2yHWRC> > > — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) September 5, 2018 > <https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1037351700829556737?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw> > > Just by looking at the National Archives description of the records, it > appears clear that Kavanaugh was involved in the planning of the Bush-era > surveillance rules which led to warrantless wiretapping being codified into > the American national security state. Further, Kavanaugh’s alleged > involvement in Bush-era judicial subterfuge by Republican hatchet man > Manuel Miranda is still an open question, though Kavanaugh has repeatedly > denied having any involvement in funneling the stolen information Miranda > hacked from Senate Democrats in 2003 to the Bush administration. The > Bush Justice Department declined to prosecute Miranda, and questions about > Kavanaugh’s level of cooperation will remain until at least the end of > October. > > Over the past decade, the political world has done everything possible to > minimize and forget the crimes of the early to mid-2000s. The effect has > been felt ever since. Members of the Bush administration and their > hangers-on have spent their time working diligently to return to good > standing in the social and professional worlds they once dominated in > Washington and New York. Allowing them to reintegrate into elite society > has had almost as catastrophic an effect on American politics as Donald > Trump. > > It’s not just Kavanaugh. The confirmation of Gina Haspel, an admitted > proponent of torture who ran a Thailand black site in 2002 > <https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-43496212> — a fact that became a > minor issue before the Senate sent her back to Langley to run the CIA — was > a perfect example of the insufficiency of the American political system to > properly deal with the Bush regime toppling established norms around war > and detainees. > > Complaints from the left about the image rehabilitation of the Bushes have > largely been met with derision. Esquire writer Charlie Pierce, who > referred > <https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/a22893069/john-mccain-funeral-service/> > to > John McCain’s funeral as a “council of war” for the resistance, fired off > a riposte to his critics > <https://twitter.com/charlesppierce/status/1036392223598960646?lang=en> > which sums up the liberal view of the need for a more genteel version of > corporate do > > >
-- You received this message because you are subscribed to Mark Crispin Miller's "News From Underground" newsgroup. If you'd like to donate to News From Underground, please visit http://markcrispinmiller.com/donate - we appreciate your ongoing support. Ways to unsubscribe, 1) send a blank email to [email protected]. PLEASE NOTE: you must unsubscribe using the SAME email with which you subscribed; 2) go to http://groups.google.com/group/newsfromunderground and click on the "Unsubscribe or change membership" link in the yellow bar at the top of the page, then click the "Unsubscribe" button on the next page. For more News From Underground, visit http://markcrispinmiller.com
