Hoping to replicate a strategy that has long been seen as key to his appeal among conservative voters, President Donald Trump on Wednesday...
Hoping to replicate a strategy that has long been seen as key to his appeal among conservative voters, President Donald Trump on Wednesday announced he is adding 20 names to a list of Supreme Court candidates that he's pledged to choose from if he has future vacancies to fill.
The list includes a variety of conservative judges who have ruled in Trump's favor, as well as three sitting GOP senators who have backed Trump's agenda while defending him during impeachment.
The list include Republican Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas and Tom Cotton of Arkansas, Christopher Landau, the current ambassador to Mexico, and Gregory Katsas, a Trump nominee to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, among others.
President Donald Trump speaks during an event on judicial appointments, in the Diplomatic Reception Room of the White House, Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2020, in Washington. He revealed additions to his list of potential Supreme Court appointees while facing pressure from new disclosures in Bob Woodward's book
'Every one of these individuals will ensure equal justice, equal treatment and equal rights for citizens of every race, color, religion and creed,' Trump said at the White House. Trump also warned his Democratic rival, Joe Biden, would select 'radical justices' who would 'fundamentally transform America,' even though Biden has never outlined his list of potential choices.
Also on list is DOJ official Steven Engel, an assistant attorney general for office of legal counsel in Bill Barr's Justice Department. Engel drafted memo justifying the White House posture of stonewalling House committee requests for administration documents before there was a formal impeachment inquiry.
Trump is including Texas Sen. Ted Cruz on his list of potential Supreme Court appointments
Arkansas GOP Sen. Tom Cotton is also on Trump's list
Cotton tweeted that it was time for the Supreme Court's ruling to go after the announcement
Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley, a Trump loyalist, also was included
AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER: Sen. Ted Cruz thanked Trump for the mention and touted his new book
'We conclude that the House must expressly authorize a committee to conduct an impeachment investigation and to use compulsory process in that investigation before the committee may compel the production of documents or testimony in support of the House’s sole power of impeachment,” Engel wrote.
Cotton tweeted Wednesday: 'The Supreme Court could use some more justices who understand the difference between applying the law and making the law, which the Court does when it invents a right to an abortion, infringes on religious freedom, and erodes the Second Amendment.'
He added in another tweet: 'It's time for Roe v. Wade to go,' in reference to the landmark abortion rights ruling.
Also on the list is Kentucky Attorney General David Cameron, who was many of a skein of black officials lined up to speak at the Republican National Convention.
Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron speaks during the Republican National Convention from the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium in Washington, Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2020. Trump included him on the list of potential nominees
Trump released the list – which wasn't on his official schedule announced Tuesday night – while confronting bombshell disclosures about the coronavirus from Bob Woodward's new book. The book describes Trump as warning about the severity of the coronavirus in private chats even while stating the virus would go away in public.
Cameron attacked Joe Biden and 'anarchists' in his remarks, but also said: 'Republicans will never turn a blind eye to unjust acts,' adding, 'but neither will we accept an all-out assault on Western civilization.'
The release, less than two months before the election, is aimed at repeating the strategy that Trump employed during his 2016 campaign, when he released a similar list of could-be judges in a bid to win over conservative and evangelical voters who had doubts about his conservative bonafides.
'The president is very excited to share who he would nominate to the Supreme Court,' White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said ahead of the announcement. She said Trump 'wants Constitution-abiding judges, he wants textualists who believe the words of a statute actually are what they are, not subject to interpretation.'
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