Kavanaugh SCOTUS Confirmation Would Be Disaster for Consumers and CFPB
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Following news that President Trump has nominated Judge Brett Kavanaugh to fill a vacancy on the U.S. Supreme Court, Allied Progress released the following statement from its executive director, Karl Frisch:
“Judge Kavanaugh has been a reckless and partisan jurist who has always seemed more interested in pleasing Wall Street and the conservative political establishment than he has in defending the constitution. He would be a disaster for consumers and the CFPB if confirmed to the Supreme Court.”
In 2016 decision authored by Judge Kavanaugh, the D.C. Circuit Court ruled against the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) in PHH Corporation v. CFPB, a case which called into question the bureau’s structure and authority. The decision has since been reversed by an en banc panel of the D.C. Circuit Court. At the time of Kavanaugh’s initial ruling, Allied Progress released the following statement from Frisch:
“The plaintiffs in this case have been cheered on from the legal sidelines by the very same Wall Street special interests that instigated and profited from the financial crisis of 2007 and 2008, while millions of Americans were losing their homes and their retirement savings. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) was created to hold these powerful financial institutions accountable – to make sure we never experience such a crisis ever again.”
“In five short years, the CFPB has returned $11.7 billion to more than 27 million Americans harmed by the actions of credit card companies, big banks, debt collectors, payday and other predatory lenders. It’s no wonder Wall Street wants to kill this successful agency – their ability to rip off consumers has been greatly diminished.”
“This decision really was no surprise. Judge Kavanaugh is a partisan activist with deep ties to corporate America. He cut his teeth in the conservative political movement and as a partner at one of the most popular law firms in corporate America – a place that bragged about its work surrounding ‘white collar crime’.”
“Judge Kavanaugh’s reckless, partisan decision was written to appease his cronies on Wall Street and the right-wing political movement where he got his start. We have no doubt that it will be reversed by a full panel of his colleagues on the D.C. Circuit.”
ADDITIONAL BACKGROUND:
- Brett Kavanaugh, a Kenneth Starr protégé “spent several years working on Starr’s investigation of President Bill Clinton” and was “a principal author of the Starr Report” that called for the impeachment of President Clinton. Kavanaugh, in a speech praising Starr’s extraordinary and selfless public service, said he hopes to one day be able to call Starr “Mr. Justice Starr.” [The New Yorker, 03/26/12; The Washington Post, 05/26/06; Los Angeles Times, 05/09/06; The Washington Post, 10/14/12; The Nation, 02/07/02; The Washington Post, 10/15/02; The New York Times, 09/12/98; The New York Times, 09/12/98; CSPAN, 11/30/99]
- David Brock claims he saw Kavanaugh “mouth the word ‘bitch’ when the camera panned to Hillary” Clinton during a State of the Union address. David Brock wrote that while watching President Bill Clinton’s 1997 State of the Union address at Laura Ingraham’s townhouse he saw “one of Ken Starr’s deputies, Brett Kavanaugh, who was sitting across from” him, “mouth the word ‘bitch’ when the camera panned to Hillary.” [Blinded by the Right, David Brock, 2002, p. 306]
- Kavanaugh is “a Republican operative.” He “rushed to Florida” for “the Bush campaign during the election recount in 2000.” [Greenwire, 10/13/15; Getty Images, 10/3/04; The Washington Post, 05/26/06; The Washington Post, 10/14/12]
- Kavanaugh, as a legal aide to President George W. Bush, “was instrumental in the selection of ultra-conservative judicial nominees.” [The New York Times, 10/29/08; National Council of Jewish Women, Press Release, 5/11/06; The Washington Post, 10/14/12]
- Kavanaugh helped defend “Florida’s school voucher law” pro bono. [National Council of Jewish Women, Press Release, 5/11/06]
- Kavanaugh is a judicial activist. The Washington Post described him as “nothing more than a partisan shock trooper in a black robe waging an ideological battle against government regulation.” [The Washington Post, 10/14/12]
- Kavanaugh “has emerged as one of the most powerful critics of President Obama’s environmental rules.” [Greenwire, 10/13/15]
- Kavanaugh, in a 2011 dissent, criticized ObamaCare in a way that made it appear that “he was pandering to the base” instead of “interpreting the Constitution.” [The New Yorker, 03/26/12]
- When Kavanaugh was a partner at Kirkland & Ellis he represented corporate clients, as did the firm, which promoted the fact that it had divisions specializing in “white collar crime,” securities, “banking and financial services,” private equity, “mergers & acquisitions,” and derivatives. During the period when Kavanaugh was a partner Kirkland litigators took numerous “cases to trial, often winning big for clients with dubious reputations.” [U.S. Court of Appeal District of Columbia Circuit, Website, Professional Biography, Accessed 9/30/16; Web Archive of Kirkland & Ellis Website, Accessed 9/30/16; Kirkland & Ellis Website, Accessed 9/30/16]
- When Kavanaugh was a partner at Kirkland & Ellis, the the firm promoted on its website that “Fortune 250 corporations ranked Kirkland & Ellis the second most frequently used law firm.” [Web Archive of Kirkland & Ellis Website, Accessed 9/30/16]
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