Nixon lawyer John Dean to testify at Brett Kavanaugh Supreme Court hearing

Christal Hayes | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Democratic senators at 'Rally to Stop Kavanuagh' Democratic senators attend 'Rally to Stop Kavanaugh' as protesters gather to support opposition to the nomination of U.S. Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. (Aug. 1)

John Dean, the former White House counsel under President Richard Nixon, is one of dozens of witnesses set to testify next week during confirmation hearings for Brett Kavanaugh to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court.

Dean had a massive role in the Watergate scandal, and his cooperation with prosecutors eventually led to Nixon's resignation from the White House. He served a prison term for obstruction of justice in the aftermath of the probe.

He is listed on the Senate's website as a guest of Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee. He is scheduled to speak about the abuse of executive power.

Democrats are desperately attempting to deny Kavanaugh’s nomination to the court and have pointed to accusations the president chose him as his pick because he would protect the White House from special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation and block the president from being subpoenaed.

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Kavanaugh has written that it would be appropriate for Congress to pass a statute that would allow lawsuits against a sitting president to be deferred until the president’s term ends. He said Congress should consider doing the same with "respect to criminal investigations and prosecutions of the President."

The witness list also includes a student who survived the high school shooting in Parkland, Florida, and former Solicitor General Theodore Olson.

The testimony of the student, Aalayah Eastmond, likely will revolve around gun control and the movement started after the February shooting that left 17 people dead. Kavanaugh has written extensively about his support of gun rights and religious freedoms.

Olson served as solicitor general in the George W. Bush administration. He’s one of the country’s best-known lawyers, having argued the Bush v. Gore Supreme Court case that stopped Al Gore’s recount in the 2000 presidential election.

He’ll offer backing to a former colleague in the Bush White House. Kavanaugh served as deputy legal counsel and later as staff secretary for Bush.

Contributing: The Associated Press