Brian Fallon believes Democrats shouldn’t “reserve judgment” when it comes to opposing President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh.
On Wednesday, the former press secretary for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign told ABC’s Powerhouse Politics podcast hosts Jonathan Karl and Rick Klein that “there's more than a million pages of documents” from Kavanaugh’s time working under President George W. Bush.
“There’s a potential here for things to get really snarled,” he said, adding he believes the Senate should hold off on a confirmation hearing for Kavanaugh until all the documents are reviewed.
Fallon, who is the executive director of Demand Justice, a new group that promotes progressive judicial nominees, said his organization has been working to persuade senators to oppose Kavanaugh’s confirmation. This includes launching a $5 million ad campaign and harnessing #StopKavanaugh on social media.
(MORE: Trump's Supreme Court announcement triggers pricey ad war)On Tuesday, Fallon criticized Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., Clinton’s former running mate for tweeting, "Here's what I'm wondering about the #SCOTUSpick: Will Judge Kavanaugh respect rulings to uphold the ACA? Will he safeguard ALL Americans' civil rights? Will he protect women's freedom to make their own reproductive health care decisions? Will he be independent of this President?"
Fallon tweeted back: “We already know the answers to these questions, Tim Kaine. Stop playing political games and help us #StopKavanaugh.”
We already know the answers to these questions, Tim Kaine.
— Brian Fallon (@brianefallon) July 10, 2018
Stop playing political games and help us #StopKavanaugh https://t.co/JCzzRyZH4u
In Wednesday’s podcast, Fallon said he believes Kaine is “one of the most honorable men in politics” but disagrees with his approach to Kavanaugh’s nomination.
“As a point of comparison, look at Bob Casey who is also up for re-election in the Trump-won state of Pennsylvania. He came out in the hours before Trump even made the selection and said you know what? This process is not on the level,” Fallon said, referring to the Democratic senator’s quick rejection of any Trump nominee.
Karl asked Fallon if he and other Democrats are “entirely misstating” Kavanaugh’s view of executive power, noting that in a 2009 Minnesota Law Review article, Kavanaugh explicitly said that Congress “might consider exempting a president” from criminal prosecution and investigations because there is “no constitutional protection.”
“No, we’re not. [That article] is not the only time that Brett Kavanaugh has weighed in on this subject,” Fallon responded, referring to two statements Kavanaugh made affirming executive power in 1998 – more than a decade before the 2009 article was published.
Fallon hopes Democrats will “look in the mirror and do the right thing” with respect to Kavanaugh. He believes that even in red states, Democratic senators can cite preserving the Affordable Care Act as the “number one” reason they’d vote against Kavanaugh’s confirmation.
“I don't concede the point that it's somehow counterproductive to the goal of winning in the midterms to fight like hell to stop Brett Kavanaugh,” Fallon said.
He also hopes Democrats will unite to “put pressure on the Republican moderates” and salvage the “future of the Supreme Court for the next 40 years.”
“You know what? We can't just live from one election to the other. Some things are worth fighting for,” Fallon said.
“I would hate to have a decision come out, in like, two years where the Supreme Court overturns Roe and suddenly you have 20 or 30 states across the country where abortion is illegal and look back and say, well, you know, the future of abortion in this country has been changed forever and women's rights have been shrunk forever, but at least we gave it a go in terms of trying to win the 2018 midterms.”