Republicans insist on strict timetable to hear out Kavanaugh's accuser: 'Monday is her opportunity'
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President Donald Trump says Democrats are using allegations of sexual assault to delay the confirmation of his Supreme Court pick Brett Kavanaugh.
USA TODAY
WASHINGTON – Senate Republicans insisted Tuesday on a truncated process and timetable for determining whether a 36-year-old claim of sexual assault should derail Brett Kavanaugh’s march to the Supreme Court.
Refusing to consider Democrats’ demands for an FBI investigation or an expanded public hearing with additional witnesses, Republican leaders said California professor Christine Blasey Ford should get one chance next week to tell her story against Kavanaugh’s categorical denial.
“She’s going to be given the opportunity to be heard on Monday,†Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said. “She can do it privately if she prefers or publicly if she prefers. Monday is her opportunity.â€
Republicans’ insistence on keeping to a strict timeline to consider the accusation about Kavanaugh’s high school behavior stands in contrast to their posture in 2016, when they waited 14 months to fill a Supreme Court seat rather than confirm President Barack Obama’s nominee, Merrick Garland.
On the other hand, Democrats – hoping to win a Senate majority at the polls in November and deny President Donald Trump his second Supreme Court justice – sought to string out the process. A longer investigation into Kavanaugh’s past could boost their chances of defeating his nomination and put pressure on Republicans, in light of the #MeToo movement’s backlash against sexual harassment and assault.
“We should not be rushing to judgment with a sham hearing on Monday,†Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., said. “A sham hearing would send a very clear message that women are not valued in this country.â€
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From left, minority members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., and Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., wait through procedural delays as Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh appears for the third day of his confirmation hearing, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Sept. 6, 2018.
Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, center, accompanied by Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, left, and Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., the ranking member on the Senate Judiciary Committee, right, speaks toward the committee Democrats.
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Anita Hill’s accusation of workplace sexual harassment against Clarence Thomas nearly upended his Supreme Court nomination. Thomas was confirmed, 52-48, but only after nearly two dozen witnesses testified at a hearing to consider her allegations.
California Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, who was first informed of Ford’s accusation in July when the professor requested anonymity, denounced Republicans’ efforts to limit next week’s hearing to two witnesses.
“Compare that to the 22 witnesses at the 1991 Anita Hill hearing, and it’s impossible to take this process seriously,” Feinstein said. “This is another attempt by Republicans to rush this nomination and not fully vet Judge Kavanaugh.â€
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said his staff reached out to Ford “three or four times” to map out plans for a public hearing without receiving a response.Â
“It kind of raises the question, do they want to come to the public hearing or not?†Grassley said.Â
Debra Katz, the lawyer representing Ford, told CNN Monday her client is willing to testify about the alleged attack. Ford said that during a party in a Maryland suburb, Kavanaugh tried to force himself upon her and covered her mouth when she tried to scream.
Kavanaugh, 53, a federal appeals court judge chosen by Trump to succeed retired Justice Anthony Kennedy, agreed to appear before the committee again after a four-day hearing this month that was interrupted repeatedly by protesters opposed to his nomination. He denied Ford’s accusation.Â
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Trump hailed Kavanaugh twice Tuesday, calling him “a great gentleman” and “not a man that deserves this.” He blamed the impasse on Democrats.
“They just resist, and they just obstruct,†Trump said.
In preparation for the hearing, Republican staff on the Judiciary Committee conducted phone interviews Monday, which Democrats boycotted in protest. Committee spokesman Taylor Foy said staffers spoke with Kavanaugh, whose “answers were forthright and candid.”
They also reached out to Mark Judge, who Ford said was in the room during the high school incident. Judge sent a letter through his attorney saying he did not want to testify, did not remember being at the party and “never saw Brett act in the manner Dr. Ford describes.”
Democratic strategist Jesse Ferguson said his party’s effort to slow down the process has more to do with opposition to his nomination than political payback.
“If it were up to Democrats, Trump wouldn’t get to nominate a ‘yes’ man to the court at all,” he said. “So they’re going to do what they can to put the brakes on Kavanaugh.”
Contributing: Eliza Collins, Maureen Groppe, Nicole Gaudiano, David Jackson and Kevin Johnson
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