Nixon Aide Dean Warns Trump Court Pick Would Shield White House

President Richard Nixon’s White House counsel John Dean warned the U.S. Senate Friday that confirming Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court would weaken the judiciary’s check on presidential powers.

“If Judge Kavanaugh is confirmed, I submit we will have the most pro-presidential-powers Supreme Court in the modern era,” Dean said in testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Dean, who was White House counsel for almost three years, was the star witness in the congressional hearings that led to Nixon’s 1974 resignation. Dean pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice.

During his Senate confirmation hearing, Kavanaugh refused to say whether he would ...