Kavanaugh looks to be confirmed

PRESIDENT Donald Trump’s fellow Republicans gained confidence on Thursday that his US Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh, could win Senate confirmation after two wavering lawmakers responded positively to an FBI report on accusations of sexual misconduct against the judge.

The report, sent by the White House to the Senate Judiciary Committee in the middle of the night, was denounced by Democrats as a whitewash that was too narrow in scope and ignored critical witnesses.

Thousands of anti-Kavanaugh protesters rallied outside the Supreme Court and entered a Senate office building, holding signs such as “Believe Survivors” and “Kava-Nope.” Hundreds of demonstrators were arrested, including actress Amy Schumer.

But Republicans moved forward with a key procedural vote yesterday and a final vote today on confirming the conservative federal appeals judge for a lifetime job on the top US court.

The timing of the vote could be complicated by Republican Senator Steve Daines, whose office said on Thursday he planned to attend his daughter’s wedding in Montana today, making him unavailable to cast his vote.

Republicans control the Senate by a 51-49 margin. With Mr Daines out of the picture, the party would need every other Republican to vote for Mr Kavanaugh for him to be confirmed in the vote in the event all Democrats oppose him.

No Republicans have said they will vote against Mr Kavanaugh, although four have not committed to supporting him.

Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein noted that the FBI did not interview Mr Kavanaugh himself or Christine Blasey Ford, a university professor from California who has accused him of sexual assault in 1982.

“It smacks of a whitewash,” Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal told reporters, saying the report should not give political cover for Republicans to vote for Mr Kavanaugh because “it is blatantly incomplete”.

Ms Ford testified last week at a dramatic Judiciary Committee hearing that when she was 15, a drunken 17-year-old Mr Kavanaugh pinned her down, tried to remove her clothing and covered her mouth after she screamed. Mr Kavanaugh denied the allegation in testimony following Ms Ford’s, painting himself as the victim of a “political hit”.

In a Wall Street Journal op-ed on Thursday, Mr Kavanaugh said he “might have been too emotional at times” in his testimony.

Mr Kavanaugh wrote that his testimony “reflected my overwhelming frustration at being wrongly accused”.

“I know that my tone was sharp,” he wrote, “and I said a few things I should not have said.”

The FBI report was not released to the public. Senators were allowed to read it behind closed doors in a secure location in the Capitol, without taking notes or making copies.