'I saved his life': Trump criticized Brett Kavanaugh after the Supreme Court threw out an election-fraud lawsuit, book says

• Trump slammed Kavanaugh after the Supreme Court dismissed an election-fraud lawsuit last year.
• "Where would he be without me?" Trump said, according to a new book. "I saved his life."
• Trump's reaction was detailed in a book by the journalist Michael Wolff.

President Donald Trump was disappointed in his three Supreme Court justice appointments after the court tossed out an election-fraud lawsuit that he backed in December, according to a new book by the journalist Michael Wolff.

"There were so many others I could have appointed, and everyone wanted me to," Trump said at the time, according to Wolff's book "Landslide: The Final Days of the Trump Presidency."

The lawsuit launched by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said then-President-elect Joe Biden's victories in key swing states including Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Georgia should be rejected because of unsubstantiated claims of widespread voter fraud. The Trump campaign threw its support behind the bid, which Trump had referred to as "the big one."

But the Supreme Court dismissed the case, saying in a one-page opinion that it lacked standing. The move effectively shut down yet another longshot effort to overturn the 2020 presidential-election results in Trump's favor.

The court's rejection infuriated Trump, who was particularly upset with Justice Brett Kavanaugh, according to the book.

"Where would he be without me?" Trump said, according to the book. "I saved his life. He wouldn't even be in a law firm. Who would have had him? Nobody. Totally disgraced. Only I saved him."

Trump nominated Kavanaugh, then a federal judge, to the Supreme Court in July 2018. What followed was one of the most contentious Supreme Court confirmation processes in recent history. The nation grew divided after the research psychologist Christine Blasey Ford accused Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her when they were both teenagers. Kavanaugh denied the allegations. He was ultimately confirmed to the court in a narrow 50-48 Senate vote.

Like the Supreme Court justices, federal judges around the country shut down dozens of cases brought by the Trump campaign to challenge the election results. Federal, state, and local election officials have repeatedly said the 2020 election was fair and accurate and that no widespread voter fraud occurred.