Judge admits making errors
WASHINGTON» Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh acknowledged Thursday he “might have been too emotional” when testifying about sexual misconduct allegations as he made a final bid to win over wavering GOP senators on the eve of a crucial vote to advance his confirmation.
Three GOP senators and one Democrat remain undecided about elevating Kavanaugh to the high court. Two of the Republicans signaled Thursday that they were satisfied with the findings of a confidential new FBI report into the assault allegations, boosting the hopes of GOP leaders.
President Donald Trump rallied behind Kavanaugh during a campaign event in Minnesota on Thursday night, telling supporters that the “ragefueled resistance” to his nominee “is starting to backfire at a level nobody has ever seen before.”
Still, Kavanaugh’s oped Thursday underscored that his performance at a Senate hearing last week opened new questions about his impartiality and judicial temperament. Democrats say Kavanaugh’s assertion that leftwing groups seeking “revenge on behalf of the Clintons” were behind the misconduct allegations suggests he would rule from the bench with a partisan bent.
In an oped published in The Wall Street Journal, Kavanaugh said there were “a few things I should not have said” during the hearing.
“Going forward, you can count on me to be the same kind of judge and person I have been for my entire 28year legal career: hardworking, evenkeeled, openminded, independent and dedicated to the Constitution and the public good,” he wrote.
Senate leaders set a pivotal preliminary vote on Kavanaugh’s nomination for 10:30 a.m. Friday. If that succeeds, a final roll call was expected Saturday as the long, emotional battle over the conservative jurist drew toward its climax.
Six days after Trump reluctantly ordered the FBI to scrutinize the accusations— which allegedly occurred in the 1980s and Kavanaugh has denied — leading GOP lawmakers briefed on the agency’s confidential document all reached the same conclusion: There was no verification of the women’s past claims and nothing new.
Democrats complained that the investigation was shoddy, omitting interviews with numerous potential witnesses, and accused the White House of limiting the FBI’s leeway. Those not interviewed in the reopened background investigation included Kavanaugh himself and Christine Blasey Ford, who ignited the furor by alleging he’d molested her in a locked room at a 1982 high school gathering.
A week after a televised Senate Judiciary Committee hearing at which Kavanaugh and Ford transfixed the nation, the Capitol campus remained a stew of tension as the electionseason cliffhanger neared its conclusion. A hefty police presence added an air of anxiety, as did thousands of noisy anti Kavanaugh demonstrators who gathered outside the Supreme Court and in Senate office buildings. U.S. Capitol Police said 302 were arrested — among them comedian Amy Schumer, a distant relative of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, DN.Y.
“What we know for sure is the FBI report did not corroborate any of the allegations against Judge Kavanaugh,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, RKy., told reporters about the document, which was sent to Congress overnight. On the Senate floor, he witheringly called the accusations “uncorroborated mud.”
Earlier, Sen. Jeff Flake of Arizona, one of the publicly undecided Republicans, told reporters “we’ve seen no additional corroborating information” about the claims against the 53yearold conservative jurist and said the investigation had been comprehensive.
A second undeclared Republican, Susan Collins of Maine, also expressed satisfaction with the probe, calling it “a very thorough investigation.” She paid two visits to the offlimits room where the document was being displayed to lawmakers. She told reporters she would not announce her position until Friday.
Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski, said she was “still reviewing” her decision.
While GOP leaders were not saying they’d nailed down the support needed, backing from two of those three would ensure Kavanaugh’s confirmation because every other Republican was poised to back him. Republicans have a narrow 5149 Senate majority, and Vice President Mike Pence will be available to cast a tiebreaking vote.
The trio of GOP moderates, leery of three women’s claims of alcoholfueled sexual misconduct by Kavanaugh, had refused to let his nomination proceed last week until Trump ordered the FBI probe. The three were briefed together on the investigation in the secure room senators were using to view the report. They skirted reporters for much of the day, sometimes shielded by Capitol Police.
Underscoring the hardening partisan lines, one of the two undecided Democratic senators said she’d oppose Kavanaugh. North Dakota Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, who faces a difficult reelection race next month, cited concerns about his “past conduct” and said she felt his heated attacks on Democrats during last week’s Judiciary Committee hearing raised questions about his “current temperament, honesty and impartiality.”