ABORTION/RUSSIA/SUPREME COURT/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Supreme Court confirmation hearings often develop their own tenor, depending on the nominee and the issues of the day. Even without a choice yet from President Donald Trump, two themes already have emerged: Russia and Roe. Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision that made abortion legal nationwide, has been a Senate Judiciary Committee perennial for decades. But the fate of the landmark ruling is likely to consume more of the questioning between senators and the nominee this time simply because Trump, as a candidate, vowed to appoint justices who would reverse Roe and leave abortion law to the states. Special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential election and ties to the Trump campaign is already hovering over the Trump Supreme Court selection. Presidential prerogatives would loom even more if the nominee is US Appeals Court Judge Brett Kavanaugh, the short-lister who has had the greatest experience with executive-power dilemmas, as a lawyer with independent counsel Ken Starr’s investigation of President Bill Clinton and then as a top aide to President George W. Bush.”
-Joan Biskupic, “Confirmation of Trump’s Supreme Court pick could be shaped by Russia and Roe,” CNN Politics, CNN.com, July 3, 2018 1:34 am