While several Democrats have canceled or refused to meet with Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh in the wake of Michael Cohen's guilty plea and Paul Manafort's conviction, Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin said Thursday that's why it's important to continue with the meetings.
However, the Illinois lawmaker told MSNBC's "Morning Joe" he thinks Kavanaugh's confirmation hearings should be put on hold at least until after the midterm elections in November.
"This is the seventh Supreme Court nominee that I will meet with," Durbin said. "I have a lot of questions to ask of him, particularly in light of the verdicts and guilty pleas that came down last Tuesday."
Kavanaugh, as a federal judge, has had some "unusual positions," Durbin continued, including being strongly involved in the investigation into former President Bill Clinton.
"Then he publicly came out and said that a president should not be investigated or prosecuted in office," said Durbin. "It was an interesting theory and a change of his position, but completely relevant now in the conversation that we're facing in light of last Tuesday."
However, Durbin said he doesn't disagree with the premise about putting off Kavanaugh's confirmation, in light of the legal matters around Washington.
"The thought that we're going to put a person on the Supreme Court for a lifetime appointment, who will be the swing vote for a generation or more, in a moment when we're on the threshold of a constitutional crisis, I think argues to delay this to beyond the election at least," he said.
He also said this is not the time for candidates to campaign on the issue of impeachment.
"We should not be testing the waters one way or the other at this point,' he said. "Let's let the facts unfold in light of the Mueller investigation. What both parties can do to serve the cause of justice is to make sure that Bob Mueller completes his investigation."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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