Orrin Hatch: “Let's take a closer look at another one of the Democrats' alleged examples. William Rehnquist, the current Chief…”

“Let's take a closer look at another one of the Democrats' alleged examples. William Rehnquist, the current Chief Justice, during his hearings to be Associate Justice, refused to reveal the private advice he had given to other Justice Department officials while he was Assistant Attorney General for Legal Counsel. He stated: [I]nsofar as I may have been asked for advice in the process of making administration policy decisions upon which the administration has not taken a public position, there, I think, the lawyer-client privilege very definitely obtains. By the way, he was confirmed as a Justice on the Supreme Court. Furthermore, on November 5, 1971, the Attorney General specifically refused to waive the attorney-client privilege after a Senator asked him to do so, stating: I can well appreciate your personal, intense interest in probing into all aspects of Mr. Rehnquist's work while at the Department of Justice. I am sure you appreciate, however, that it is essential to the fulfillment of my duties and obligations that I have the candid advice and opinions of all members of the Department.”