Trump leads GOP drive trying to save nominee
WASHINGTON» Republicans mounted a combative, coordinated drive Monday to salvage Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court nomination as they fought to keep a second woman’s allegation of longago sexual misconduct from derailing his confirmation. President Donald Trump leapt to his defense, the top Senate Republican accused Democrats of a “smear campaign” and an emotional Kavanaugh pledged to fight for his nomination and pro claimed, “I’ve never sexually assaulted anyone.”
That declaration, remarkable for a nominee to the nation’s highest court, came as Republicans embraced their newly aggressive stance and Kavanaugh’s prospects dangled precariously. The similar tones and wording they used in defending him suggested a concerted effort to undermine the women’s claims and portray an image of unity among GOP senators while pressing toward a confirmation vote.
In the runup to an appearance by Kavanaugh and his
main accuser at a dramatic Senate hearing, Trump called the accusations “totally political” and among “the single most unfair, unjust things to happen to a candidate for anything.” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, RKy., angrily accused Democrats of slinging “all the mud they could manufacture” and promised a full Senate vote soon, but specified no date.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, DN.Y., retorted that if McConnell believed the allegations were a smear, “Why don’t you call for an FBI investigation?” Schumer accused Republicans of “a rush job to avoid the truth.”
Trump has made clear he won’t order an FBI investigation. McConnell said Thursday’s Judiciary Committee hearing would proceed, and the No. 2 Senate GOP leader, John Cornyn of Texas, said the panel could vote on sending Kavanaugh’s nomination to the full Senate as early as Friday.
In a letter to the committee, which plans the climactic hearing featuring Kavanaugh and his first accuser, Christine Blasey Ford, the nominee accused his opponents of launching “smears, pure and simple.”
Later, Kavanaugh and his wife sat for an interview on the conservativefriendly Fox News Channel, an extraordinary step for a Supreme Court nominee. Kavanaugh, 53, is currently a judge on the District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals.
Kavanaugh said he wasn’t questioning “that perhaps Dr. Ford at some point in her life was sexually assaulted by someone at some place, but what I know is I’ve never sexually assaulted anyone.”
Kavanaugh said while there were high school parties with beer and he wasn’t perfect, “I’m a good person. I’ve led a good life.” He said that he’d never done anything like the episodes his accusers have described and that he didn’t have sexual intercourse until “many years” after high school.
On Sunday, The New Yorker magazine reported that Boulder’s Deborah Ramirez described a 1980s, alcoholheavy Yale dormitory party at which she said Kavanaugh exposed himself, placed his penis in her face and caused her to touch it without her consent. Ford has said Kavanaugh tried removing her clothes and covered her mouth to prevent screams after he pinned her on a bed during a high school party.
It remained unclear how three moderate Republican senators — Maine’s Susan Collins, Arizona’s Jeff Flake and Alaska’s Lisa Murkowski — would react to the latest accusation. With the GOP’s Senate control hanging on a razorthin 5149 margin, defections by any two Republican senators would seal his fate if all Democrats vote “no.”
Collins said Monday she remained undecided.
Pushing forward with Kavanaugh has its own risks, besides an embarrassing defeat for Trump and the GOP. His nomination and the claims of sexual misconduct have stirred up women and liberal voters whose antipathy to Republicans has already been heightened by Trump’s policies and his own fraught history of alleged sexual transgressions.
With increasing intensity, Republicans have attacked the credibility of Ford’s and now Ramirez’s accounts. They note that neither of the accusers nor news organizations have found people willing to provide corroboration, even though both women have named people who they said were present at the alleged incidents.
White House counselor Kellyanne Conway held a conference call with supporters during which she said there was a “vast leftwing conspiracy” to prevent Kavanaugh from winning confirmation, according to a participant who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe the private call.
Also jumping into the fray was the attorney who represents porn actress Stormy Daniels in her legal fight with Trump. Lawyer Michael Avenatti said he was representing a woman with information about high schoolera parties attended by Kavanaugh.