Kavanaugh clears Senate panel hurdle
washington — After a flurry of last-minute negotiations, the Senate Judiciary Committee advanced Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination for the Supreme Court after agreeing to a late call from Republican Senator Jeff Flake of Arizona for a one week investigation into sexual assault allegations against the high court nominee.
However, it’s unclear if Republican leaders — or President Donald Trump — will support Flake’s call for the investigation or might instead press forward with a full Senate vote on Kavanaugh’s nomination. —
washington — Partisan tensions are only getting worse after a hearing for Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh devolved into a partisan fistfight. Democrats and Republicans — and Kavanaugh himself — sparred over explosive allegations that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted an acquaintance while both were teenagers.
Utah Senator Orrin Hatch called the Thursday hearing a “national disgrace”, while fellow Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said Democrats’ treatment of Kavanaugh was the “most despicable thing” he has seen in politics.
On the other side, Democratic Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York called the hearing fundamentally “unfair” to Christine Blasey Ford, a California professor who says Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her when both were in high school. Kavanaugh denied the allegation. Republicans assigned a female prosecutor to question Ford on their behalf, even though “she’s not on trial”, Gillibrand said.
Gillibrand and other Democrats were outraged that Republicans did not force a high school friend of Kavanaugh and other witnesses to testify under oath. Ford says Kavanaugh friend Mark Judge was present when the attack occurred.
The charged atmosphere in the room was heightened by Kavanaugh himself, who delivered what has to rank among the most combative testimony ever heard in a congressional hearing room.
As partisan as the court nominating process has been, so too was the reaction.
In Kavanaugh’s angry and tearful opening statement, supporters saw an expression of the frustration Republicans have felt since Kavanaugh was nominated by President Donald Trump in July.
But Democrats said Kavanaugh’s 3 ½-hour appearance before the Senate Judiciary Committee raised more questions than it answered.
Kavanaugh’s testimony “had key gaps in substance and credibility”, said Senator Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., and his frequent, angry outbursts “raised questions about his temperament”.
Still, most GOP senators were likely to stick with Kavanaugh, especially without corroborating evidence from Ford to back up her story.