Abuse of Power

“The court has now made clear what our clients have been saying all along — the winner of November’s gubernatorial election will appoint three justices to the Florida Supreme Court,” said John Mills, attorney for the Florida branch of the League of Women Voters and Common Cause who filed the lawsuit. “Governor Scott will not, and he has no part to play in these appointments.”

Initial reports about the brief FBI investigation of sexual assault allegations reek of a whitewash as the Senate scrambles to fill the Supreme Court seat before facing voters in November. Combined with the abbreviated and inadequate document release of Brett Kavanaugh’s professional career and his appearance at last week’s hearing, many questions have been raised about Judge Kavanaugh’s fitness to serve as a Justice and they must be answered.

New revelations in The Wall Street Journal continue to reveal evidence that supports allegations we made in January and March Department of Justice and Federal Election Commission complaints of violations of campaign finance laws and criminal code provisions related to hush money payments to Stormy Daniels. The Wall Street Journal reports today that in February of this year President Trump personally directed his lawyer, Michael Cohen, to initiate an arbitration proceeding and seek a restraining order against Stormy Daniels pursuant to a nondisclosure agreement negotiated with Daniels in October 2016. President Trump’s familiarity with the arbitration clause in the contract is strong evidence that Trump was familiar with the details of the October 2016 contract, notwithstanding his constantly-changing story and claims that he didn’t know about contract with Daniels before the 2016 election.

The lawsuit from the League of Women Voters of Florida and Common Cause Florida maintains that Scott does not have the power to make the appointments ahead of when the positions will be vacant. Instead the lawsuit argues the decision must be left to his successor.

“The Trump administration’s complete disregard for ethical norms shows we need big, bold solutions to try to close many of these loopholes that the administration employs and former officials are exploiting," Aaron Scherb, director of legislative affairs at Common Cause, told Salon.

The rushed and deficient process to confirm Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the United States Supreme Court has been anything but deliberative. The Senate must immediately hit pause. Hastily convening a hearing on Monday concerning Professor Christine Blasey Ford’s serious allegations is unacceptable and it should be postponed. It is past time to activate an emergency brake.