While reading about one of the possible replacements for Associate Justice Kennedy, namely Judge Brett Kavanaugh, in an article in WaPo, it gives his defense of his view that the President should be permitted to defer prosecutions of himself:
U.S. Circuit Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh, a former clerk for Supreme Court Justice Anthony M. Kennedy who is viewed as one of the leading contenders to replace him, has argued that presidents should not be distracted by civil lawsuits, criminal investigations or even questions from a prosecutor or defense attorney while in office. …
Having observed the weighty issues that can consume a president, Kavanaugh wrote, the nation’s chief executive should be exempt from “time-consuming and distracting” lawsuits and investigations, which “would ill serve the public interest, especially in times of financial or national security crisis.”
If a president were truly malevolent, Kavanaugh wrote, he could always be impeached.
I’ve gotta say this view is extremely ill-considered.
First, an impeachment is not an activity that takes place without information. An investigation, such as that under the leadership of Mr. Mueller, is a critical source of information for any member of Congress who must vote on the question of the impeachment and conviction of the President. To suggest that a truly malevolent President could simply be impeached is either naive or deceitful, because malevolence is not always an obvious attribute of a person.
Second, deferral of an investigation, lawsuit, or allied legal activity until the President is no longer President is to deny justice, and, yes, it’s as simple as that. For those who proclaim justice is done when someone is convicted of a murder that occurred forty years ago, I say that’s a dish of cold, rotting fish. For those forty years, the murderer escaped punishment, and may have committed more crimes. Similarly, a President uninvestigated is encouraged in his or her malevolent pursuits.
If, as Judge Kavanaugh suggests, the press of duties is such that the President dare not be distracted, there are procedures available to relieve him temporarily of those duties, now isn’t there? The 25 Amendment comes right to mind. After all, why do we select and elect a Vice President? So he or she can sit on her duff for four years?
Rancid nonsense, Judge Kavanaugh.
If Judge Kavanaugh has not retracted his ridiculous position on this matter, then I believe that he has effectively disqualified himself from a seat on SCOTUS. Not for ideological or partisan reasons, but simply because he does not appear to be able to think.
