http://mediamatters.org/tools/syndication/tag_rss/pete_williams This link is for use by RSS-enabled software to retrieve Media Matters items matching the term: Pete Williams en-US Copyright 2008, Media Matters for America http://mediamatters.org/items/200601170006 Covering the nomination hearing of Supreme Court nominee Samuel A. Alito Jr., NBC News correspondent Pete Williams asserted that "Alito himself told the senators this week that a president does not have the power to disregard a law." But Williams based this on only a part of a response Alito gave on the issue of presidential power. In fact, Alito's entire response on the issue constitutes a legal truism that tells senators nothing about his views on presidential power versus congressional power -- that the president cannot disregard a law that is constitutional. Simply put, Alito told the committee that the president has to follow the law except when he doesn't have to. http://mediamatters.org/items/200601170006 Tue, 17 Jan 2006 13:13:16 EST http://mediamatters.org/items/200601090007 In reporting on Supreme Court nominee Samuel A. Alito Jr.'s confirmation hearing, NBC correspondent Pete Williams noted that despite a 1985 job application expressing Alito's "very strong[]" personal belief that "the Constitution does not protect a right to an abortion," Alito's supporters say his personal views "don't count, that when he puts on a judge's robes, he follows the law, including the legal precedent upholding abortion rights." But Williams ignored the distinction between an appellate judge, who is bound by higher court precedents, and a Supreme Court justice, who might not be. http://mediamatters.org/items/200601090007 Mon, 9 Jan 2006 14:34:40 EST http://mediamatters.org/items/200601090001 NBC correspondent Pete Williams falsely claimed that Supreme Court nominee Samuel A. Alito Jr. was following Justice Sandra Day O'Connor's precedent in his dissent in favor of spousal notification in an abortion-rights case and that O'Connor subsequently "changed her mind." In fact, that case, upon its appeal to the Supreme Court, was O'Connor's first ruling on spousal notification. http://mediamatters.org/items/200601090001 Mon, 9 Jan 2006 10:07:16 EST