Warren Burger And Harriet Miers
Did the "sources" who gave the Washington Post an account of Harriet Miers's conversation with Sen. Pat Leahy about what Larry King would call the "da greats" of SCOTUS history give the correct context?
Here's what the Post says: "In an initial chat with Miers, according to several people with knowledge of the exchange, Leahy asked her to name her favorite Supreme Court justices. Miers responded with 'Warren"' -- which led Leahy to ask her whether she meant former Chief Justice Earl Warren, a liberal icon, or former Chief Justice Warren Burger, a conservative who voted for Roe v. Wade. Miers said she meant Warren Burger, the sources said."
WH sources are, not surprisingly, disputing the context. For one thing, a source says Leahy interrupted Miers after she said the first name "Warren" -- she was not nervously conflating a first name with a last name as an interpretation of the Post account suggests. Secondly, the source says that Miers mentioned other names, too. Thirdly, another source says that Miers meant to praise Burger's court administration skills. [MARC AMBINDER]