DAY OF RECKONING
All eyes on Kavanaugh hearing – and the president
WASHINGTON – Former prosecutors, possible 2020 candidates and politicians with everything – or nothing – to lose will be among senators looking to make their mark Thursday in a Judiciary Committee hearing with Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh and Christine Blasey Ford, who accused him of sexual assault.
Expect fireworks.
Frustrated committee leaders
Resentment between Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and ranking member Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., is at a boiling point over dizzying rounds of negotiations on the terms of Ford’s testimony.
This month, Grassley blasted Feinstein for waiting for a “politically opportune moment” to share a letter she received from Ford on the allegations. Feinstein said she was honoring Ford’s request for confidentiality until the letter leaked to the media.
When negotiations went off track, Feinstein accused Republicans of “bullying a survivor of attempted rape in order to confirm a nominee.”
Senator surrogate?
Grassley hired Rachel Mitchell, describing her as “an experienced career sex crimes prosecutor,” to question Ford and Kavanaugh on behalf of Republican members. Mitchell is on leave as deputy county attorney in the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office in Phoenix.
“The goal is to de-politicize the process and get to the truth, instead of grandstanding and giving senators an opportunity to launch their presidential campaigns,” Grassley said in a statement Tuesday night. Democrats blasted the idea.
“It makes me concerned for Dr. Ford, who tried so hard to avoid a scene, where she will be at the center of a public confrontation that is set up more as a trial than a confirmation hearing,” said Sen. Christopher Coons, D-Del., a committee member.
2020 hopefuls
The hearing could offer a moment to shine for at least two potential 2020 Democratic candidates – or not. Sens. Cory Booker of New Jersey and Kamala Harris of California were criticized for behavior related to Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearing.
“The thing Democrats on the committee need to avoid at all cost is the perception that they are willing to savage this guy just to ruin his reputation,” said Jim Manley, a Democratic consultant and former aide to Sens. Harry Reid, DNev., and Ted Kennedy, D-Mass.
During Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearing, Booker was mocked after comparing himself to “Spartacus,” who led a slave uprising against the Roman republic.
He defiantly said he was breaking Senate rules by releasing confidential documents related to Kavanaugh’s confirmation, but Republicans had cleared the documents for release earlier that day.
Harris was slammed by The Washington Post’s fact checker for tweeting a video of Kavanaugh referring to “abortion-inducing drugs” that edited out the words “they say,” making it appear he used the controversial term himself rather than referring to a plaintiff ’s position.
Women have a voice
The committee’s Republicans are all male, but there are three women on the Democratic side – Harris, Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and Mazie Hirono of Hawaii.
Hirono has been an outspoken defender of Ford’s, saying, “I believe her.”
Harris and Klobuchar are among the committee’s former prosecutors who can be expected to pressure Kavanaugh. Harris’ tough, rapid questioning put Attorney General Jeff Sessions on edge during a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing last year on Russian electoral interference.
The Arizona wild card
Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., is a potential swing vote on the committee. He has nothing to lose, having announced he isn’t running for re-election.
Flake was one of the Republicans who early on called for the committee to delay the vote on Kavanaugh until Ford could be heard.
Friendly listener
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, noted during the confirmation hearing that he and his wife have been “good friends” with the Kavanaughs for 20 years.
Monday, anti-Kavanaugh protesters drove Cruz and his wife, Ashley, away from a Washington restaurant.
Cruz was asked Friday during a debate against Rep. Beto O’Rourke, DTexas, whether Ford could say anything that would change his support. “Absolutely,” he said but didn’t elaborate.