Politics

‘I Don’t Believe You’ — Sen. Kennedy Rattles Biden Nominee Over Past Letter Calling Kavanaugh ‘Morally Bankrupt’

Screen Shot_Twitter_@JCNSeverino_John Kennedy

Henry Rodgers Chief National Correspondent
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Republican Louisiana Sen. John Kennedy criticized President Joe Biden’s judicial nominee Jennifer Sung Tuesday over a letter she signed that called Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh “intellectually and morally bankrupt.”

During a Tuesday hearing, Kennedy pressed Sung, Biden’s nominee for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, over a letter from Yale Law students and alumni, which heavily criticized then-Supreme Court nominee Kavanaugh. The Louisiana senator asked Sung if she believes Kavanaugh is morally bankrupt, to which she said “my personal opinion is not appropriate for me to say. I respect his authority as a Supreme Court Justice.” (RELATED: Pro-Abortion Activists Protest Outside Brett Kavanaugh’s Home)

“So you do think he is morally bankrupt,” Kennedy followed up and asked if she thought the letter would be public.

“Several years ago, as an alum, addressing my law school alma mater, I did sign a letter that I believed was addressed only to my law school administration,” Sung said. “I did not understand that it would be used as a public advocacy piece … I signed it, Senator, at the time, because I felt that it was an appropriate statement to make to my law school administration, notwithstanding the overheated rhetoric.”

Sung also added that if confirmed, she “would absolutely respect” the authority of the Supreme Court Justices and “all of its precedents without reservation.”

“See, I don’t believe you. I think you allowed your political beliefs to cloud your judgment, and I think you said a few years ago, what you said about Brett Kavanaugh, and I think you believe it. I cannot imagine what it’s going to be like to be a litigant in front of you, with that demonstration of lack of judicial temperament and judgment.” (RELATED: Portly Protesters Descend On Grassley’s Office, Eat Dozens Of Sandwiches)

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“How can a litigant possibly think that you’re not going to act on personal beliefs if you were so intemperate to say something like that?” Kennedy asked. (RELATED: Supreme Court Strikes Down Biden’s New Eviction Moratorium)

The letter Sung signed was released during Kavanaugh‘s 2018 nomination fight.