Sign up for our daily briefing
Make your busy days simpler with Axios AM/PM. Catch up on what's new and why it matters in just 5 minutes.
Catch up on coronavirus stories and special reports, curated by Mike Allen everyday
Catch up on coronavirus stories and special reports, curated by Mike Allen everyday
Denver news in your inbox
Catch up on the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Denver
Des Moines news in your inbox
Catch up on the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Des Moines
Minneapolis-St. Paul news in your inbox
Catch up on the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Twin Cities
Tampa Bay news in your inbox
Catch up on the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Tampa Bay
Charlotte news in your inbox
Catch up on the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Charlotte
Carolyn Kaster / AP
Norm Eisen is no friend of Donald Trump's. President Obama's former "ethics czar" has been hammering the new President with an array of conflicts of interest questions.
But Eisen seems relatively relaxed about the prospect of Trump picking Eisen's old Harvard Law classmate, Neil Gorsuch, to the Supreme Court. Gorsuch, Eisen and a guy named Barack Obama were all in the star-studded 1991 class.
It was a law school class crowded with luminaries, of all political persuasions...but Neil was right up there. And he's a very decent person, too.
We spoke to Eisen on Tuesday afternoon while waiting for the official SCOTUS announcement.
Here are Eisen's notes on Gorsuch:
- He was known as a conservative back then, but he wasn't viewed as one of the "strident conservatives" in the law class.
- Eisen praised his decency and willingness to entertain others' opinions.
- "He's not a shouter, but he penetrates to the heart of the matter...even if you don't agree with him he makes you think."
- Eisen has closely followed Gorsuch's opinions through his legal career. Though he disagrees with Gorsuch politically, he praises his written opinions as "careful" and "literate."