Thread: Report: Trump ‘All but Ruled Out’ Kethledge After Conservative Criticism on Immigrati

Report: Trump ‘All but Ruled Out’ Kethledge After Conservative Criticism on Immigration



July 8, 2018
John Binder
3,018 comments

President Trump has “all but ruled out” Judge Raymond Kethledge from his shortlist of candidates to replace Justice Anthony Kennedy on the U.S. Supreme Court, a report reveals.

A new report from the New York Times claims that Kethledge is one of four judges being considered by Trump to nominate to the Supreme Court that has been ruled out.

The report states:

The only judge among the four whom the president appears to have all but ruled out is Raymond M. Kethledge. People close to the process said the president had found him likable but comparatively dull. And some conservatives, whose support has guided Mr. Trump’s thinking about the courts, have voiced concern about Judge Kethledge on issues like immigration.

Sources close to Breitbart News confirmed that Trump heard criticism from conservatives over Kethledge’s shaky record on immigration. As Breitbart News reported, in one case back in 2013, Kethledge sided with an illegal alien who had overstayed their visa and spent 10 years in the U.S. illegally trying to obtain an employment visa.

In another case in Kethledge joined an opinion which blocked the deportation of a criminal immigrant who had been in the U.S. on a Green Card. The immigrant lied on his U.S. citizenship application and went on to commit grand theft auto.

Conservative columnist Ann Coulter railed against Kethledge, as well as potential nominee Judge Thomas Hardiman as “open borders zealots” who cannot be trusted to side with Trump’s “America First” principles on the issue.

https://www.breitbart.com/big-govern...m-immigration/

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Ann Coulter Slams ‘Open Borders Zealots’ on Trump’s SCOTUS Shortlist, Backs Kavanaugh


Paul J. Richards/AFP/Getty Images4 Jul 20181,397Ann Coulter unloaded on Judge Raymond Kethledge, one of the judges President Donald Trump interviewed to potentially replace Justice Anthony Kennedy on the Supreme Court, on Twitter Wednesday.

“Hardiman & Kethledge are open borders zealots,” the New York Times best-selling author and populist conservative columnist said in the most explosive of her tweets:

Ann Coulter
✔@AnnCoulter
Hardiman & Kethledge are open borders zealots. Kavanaugh rejected an employer's demand for "guest workers," saying "mere economic expediency does not authorize an employer to displace American workers for foreign workers.”
12:14 PM - Jul 4, 2018

Later, when challenged on her assertion, Coulter expounded on how she reached her conclusion, citing several opinions in which Judge Kethledge favored expanding the legal options available to illegal aliens facing deportation:

Ann Coulter
✔@AnnCoulter
Kethlege's ruling for the illegal immigrant was too much even for the Clinton judge on the panel, who dissented.
Ann Coulter
✔@AnnCoulter
Patel v. USCIS, 732 F.3d 633 Judge Kethledge rules agst U.S. to allow a foreigner, who had overstayed his prior employment visa by 6 yrs, to challenge the denial of a NEW employment visa application. https://twitter.com/Harvardlash/stat...70376230301696

Ann Coulter
✔@AnnCoulter
Kethledge also reversed a deportation order of a CRIMINAL ALIEN who had lied about a drug conviction and been convicted of grand theft auto, which Kethledge argued was not an aggravated felony. Van Don Nguyen v. Holder, 571 F.3d 524
Yale Lash@Harvardlash
Replying to @AnnCoulter

Please show me one thing that would point to Judge Kethledge wanting open boarders. You’re literally #FakeNews
2:46 PM - Jul 4, 2018

In 2013’s Patel, Kethledge wrote an opinion that expressly rejected the government’s contention that an American immigration law’s purpose is to protect American workers and benefit American businesses. “One can speculate that Congress meant to exclude certain aliens to protect American workers, and admit other, ‘qualified’ aliens to help American employers,” Kethledge wrote. “But there is no basis in the text of the statute—none—to conclude that Congress was completely indifferent to the interests of the ‘qualified immigrants’ themselves.”
In 2009’s Nguyen, Kethledge joined an opinion by Jimmy Carter-appointee Gilbert Merritt holding that grand theft auto did not qualify as an “aggravated felony” mandating deportation.

The tweets followed one in which she chastised those on the right pushing for Kethledge, a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, as repeating the mistakes of the past that led to Republican administrations nominating judges, such as Justice David Souter, who became massive disappointments to conservatives:

Ann Coulter
✔@AnnCoulter
Who is pushing Kethledge for the S. Ct? Answer: Same people who swore by Souter.
12:09 PM - Jul 4, 2018

The rebukes comes as right-leaning outlets like the Daily Caller report on a number of sources close to the selection process who are aggressively advocating picking Kethledge and citing a very positive interview with the president. Sources within the conservative legal community with whom Breitbart News discussed the matter expressed their own misgivings over Kethledge’s judicial philosophy.

Coulter, a University of Michigan Law School grad, threw her weight behind Judge Brett Kavanaugh of the D.C. Circuit, comparing his record on immigration, the issue on which Coulter most closely focuses, to the other reported candidates. She also pointed to Kavanaugh’s strength on the Second Amendment:

Ann Coulter
✔@AnnCoulter
Kavanaugh's record on 2d amt is EXCELLENT, just like his record on everything else.
Ed Whelan@EdWhelanEPPC
Judge Kavanaugh’s Record on Second Amendment/Gun Rights https://www.nationalreview.com/bench...nt-gun-rights/ …
12:56 PM - Jul 4, 2018

Kavanaugh wrote a widely-cited pro-gun rights dissent in the first major appellate Second Amendment case after the landmark 2009 District of Columbia v. Heller Supreme Court decision in which, much like Justice Antonin Scalia, he extensively relied on the original public meaning of the “right of the people to keep and bear arms.”

Much of the coverage of Kavanaugh in the left-leaning media has focused on his connection to George W. Bush, in whose administration Kavanaugh served in the White House Counsel’s Office and who appointed Kavanaugh to the federal bench. Coulter saw this as a campaign of manipulation on the media’s part to turn Trump, who has had a sometimes contentious relationship with Bush administration veterans, against Kavanaugh:

Ann Coulter
✔@AnnCoulter
Trump admin is wall-to-wall Bush hacks, but WaPo never put THEIR pics on its front page with BUSH. Only Kavanaugh. They think @realDonaldTrump is easily manipulated.
10:21 AM - Jul 4, 2018

Judge Amy Coney Barrett, who has emerged as a conservative favorite in the nomination process, was also featured in Coulter’s analysis. Coulter did not explicitly attack Barrett, but explained her preference for Kavanugh by pointing to Barrett’s relative lack of experience. Barrett has only been a judge for seven months and has never ruled on a wide variety of issues. Coulter saw her as a potential “blank slate” and warned against nominating anyone on the basis of being a woman:

Ann Coulter
✔@AnnCoulter
Kavanaugh has a long & impressive track record. OR @realDonaldTrump could try a blank slate nominee -- because that worked so well with O'Connor & Souter. #SandraDayOConnorReagansBiggestMistake
12:08 PM - Jul 4, 2018

Ann Coulter
✔@AnnCoulter

SHE DOES NEED MORE EXPERIENCE -- and a record. Whenever GOP lurches to appoint a woman -- any woman -- just for the sake of picking a WOMAN, it's a huge mistake. #SandraDayOConnorReagansBiggestMistake
Oliver Darcy
✔@oliverdarcy
New York Times cites person close to POTUS who says Kavanaugh is leading candidate for SCOTUS seat in president's mind. That person also said Trump believes Barrett could use more experience https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/03/u...T.nav=top-news …


10:27 AM - Jul 4, 2018

President Trump has reportedly also interviewed Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT), Judge Amul Thapar of the Sixth Circuit, and three other candidates in connection with the Supreme Court seat. He is expected to announce his decision on Monday.

https://www.breitbart.com/big-govern...cks-kavanaugh/

Mitch McConnell Pushing Ray Kethledge for Supreme Court to Appeal to Establishment Republicans, Not Conservatives



AP, Getty Images7 Jul 2018Washington, D.C.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is pushing for Judge Ray Kethledge to be President Donald Trump’s nominee for the Supreme Court vacancy opened by the retirement of Justice Anthony Kennedy, Breitbart News has learned.

McConnell has, in private conversations, said he is pushing Trump to pick Kethledge for the slot because he thinks Kethledge’s positions in contravention of the GOP base on certain issues like immigration would make him an easily-confirmed nominee in an election year.

“McConnell has said he does not want a SCOTUS battle in an election year,” one source briefed on McConnell’s comments to a variety of people around Washington, including at least one journalist whom the Senate Majority Leader spoke with off the record ahead of Monday’s announcement. “He thinks Kethledge would be easy to confirm because Kethledge is not a consistent conservative.”

McConnell’s argument, per sources who have heard him make it directly, is that Kethledge is non-controversial and would not face the same problems in the Senate confirmation process—meaning he would rather not have to fight than have a nominee with fewer questions about his or her conservative positions.

The Times’ Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Martin reported late Saturday:

Senator Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader, told President Trump this past week that Judges Raymond M. Kethledge and Thomas M. Hardiman presented the fewest obvious obstacles to being confirmed to replace Justice Anthony M. Kennedy on the Supreme Court, according to Republican officials briefed on the conversation. While careful not to directly make the case for any would-be justice, Mr. McConnell made clear in multiple phone calls with Mr. Trump and the White House counsel, Donald F. McGahn II, that the lengthy paper trail of another top contender, Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh, would pose difficulties for his confirmation. Mr. McConnell is concerned about the volume of the documents that Judge Kavanaugh has created in his 12 years on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, as well as in his roles as White House staff secretary under President George W. Bush and assistant to Kenneth W. Starr, the independent counsel who investigated President Bill Clinton.

The Times story was printed after Breitbart News reached out to McConnell spokeswoman Antonia Ferrier for comment. Ferrier responded after the Times article was posted, saying in an emailed statement: “The Leader has said publicly that he’s confident the President will select someone in the mold of Justice Gorsuch. I can’t speak to the theories of those anonymous sources.”

Ferrier has not responded to a follow-up request for further comment on a two-part question: Whether McConnell believes Kethledge is “in the mold of Justice Gorsuch,” even with the revelation that Kethledge overturned deportation orders for an illegal alien convicted of grand theft auto—a revelation exposed by bestselling author and conservative columnist Ann Coulter.

Ann Coulter
✔@AnnCoulter
Finding that grand-theft auto is not a theft (AS LONG AS THE CRIMINAL IMMIGRANT GETS TO STAY!) kind of shoots down to the claim that Kethledge is a constitutional textualist.
4:10 PM - Jul 6, 2018

Ann Coulter
✔@AnnCoulter
But Judge Kethledge found that GRAND THEFT AUTO isn't "theft," so he could keep a criminal alien here.
Ann Coulter
✔@AnnCoulter
That's a direct quote from the TEXT of the law Kethledge was applying, 8 U.S.C. 1101 - "Definitions" - https://bit.ly/2jXG0zK https://twitter.com/AnnCoulter/statu...39485477982208 …

4:05 PM - Jul 6, 2018

Ann Coulter
✔@AnnCoulter

Can anybody figure out what this "text" means? "The term 'aggravated felony' means—
(G) a theft offense (including receipt of stolen property) or burglary offense for which the term of imprisonment at 5 least one year"
3:59 PM - Jul 6, 2018

Ann Coulter
✔@AnnCoulter

Kethledge also reversed a deportation order of a CRIMINAL ALIEN who had lied about a drug conviction and been convicted of grand theft auto, which Kethledge argued was not an aggravated felony. Van Don Nguyen v. Holder, 571 F.3d 524
Yale Lash@Harvardlash
Replying to @AnnCoulter
Please show me one thing that would point to Judge Kethledge wanting open boarders. You’re literally #FakeNews
2:46 PM - Jul 4, 2018

McConnell’s push to the president, as reported by the Times, is slightly less than the full picture: He is very aggressively behind-the-scenes lobbying for Kethledge, per sources with direct knowledge – just not with the president himself.

When Trump makes his pick, whomever it might be, there is little room for error in the Senate in order to ensure confirmation. He has to ensure he does not lose more than one or two Republicans, if he is going to pick up Democrats, but he definitely cannot afford to not pick up any Democrats while losing even one Republican.

A revolt by the right wing base against any pick could be fatal to that pick’s confirmation chances, creating a divide inside the GOP where establishment Republicans or so-called moderates are on board but conservatives are not. Such a divide inside the GOP would almost certainly guarantee that no Democrats vote for whoever creates it, even the many endangered red state Democrats in battleground states that President Trump won in 2016–because said divide in the Republican Party could relieve pressure on Democrats like Sens. Joe Manchin (D-WV), Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND), Jon Tester (D-MT), Claire McCaskill (D-MO), Bill Nelson (D-FL), and Bob Casey (D-PA), among others.

Getting zero Democrat votes would then leave the Senate Republicans with exactly no room for error. What’s to stop a Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) or Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) from voting against this nominee on their way out of office? Or how about Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT), the elder statesman who’s retiring, if he sees something wrong? What about Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY)? It’s been a while since he’s killed something, and this would present the perfect opportunity to do so. Without Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), who is not expected to come back to the Senate due to health issues, that puts the GOP at just exactly 50 votes. One Republican joining with all Democrats to vote no would mean failure for the nominee, and the possibility of failure is very real no matter who is nominated.

The tight-wire vote-counting act is definitely a serious exercise with any other potential nominee as well. Barrett faces questions over a not-so-in-depth legal career. Kavanaugh faces questions from pro-lifers and about Obamacare. But neither of those split Trump’s movement as vehemently as Kethledge does, and the president would be able to keep the pressure on red state Democrats and probably pick up a vote or two or three or maybe more from them—offsetting any GOP losses—if he goes that route.

In fact, West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey—the GOP nominee for U.S. Senate in that state—predicted on Breitbart News Saturday this weekend that Manchin will vote for whomever the nominee is for Supreme Court.

McConnell has also, per the Times, been lobbying directly against Barrett because she is a pro-life conservative. He is worried about losing the votes of establishment GOP Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Susan Collins (R-ME), despite the fact a more solid Justice nominee would probably pick up Democrats, the Times reports.

“Mr. McConnell is similarly wary of imperiling the votes of two moderate Republicans, Senators Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine,” Martin and Haberman wrote. “He has told Mr. Trump he could lose the two senators, who support abortion rights, if he picks another judge seen as a contender, Amy Coney Barrett, an outspoken social conservative whom some observers believe may be more open to overturning Roe v. Wade.”

https://www.breitbart.com/big-govern...conservatives/