In 1998, Judge Brett Kavanaugh told the independent counsel’s office that he “strongly opposed” going easy in its investigation of then-President Bill Clinton’s abuse of White House intern Monica Lewinsky.

“After reflecting this evening, I am strongly opposed to giving the president any ‘break’ in the questioning regarding the details of the Lewinsky relationship — unless … he either (i) resigns or (ii) confesses perjury and issues a public apology to you,” Kavanaugh wrote on Aug. 15, 1998, in a memo titled “All Attorneys,” with the subject line: “Slack for the President?”