Abuse claim may sink nominee

Kavanaugh, accuser to testify; Schumer wants FBI probe of allegations

For New York Sens. Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand and their Democratic colleagues, last-minute surfacing of a sexualabuse allegation may do to Brett Kavanaugh what hearings did not: Delay confirmation or wreck his Supreme Court nomination entirely.

The allegation that Kavanaugh, as a high school student, held down and groped a teenage girl developed into a full-fledged political firestorm Monday.

The accuser, Christine Blasey Ford, came forward publicly over the weekend and offered to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee, which conducted confirmation hearings on Kavanaugh two weeks ago.

Late Monday, the White House

issued a statement saying Kavanaugh “looks forward to a hearing where he can clear his name of this false allegation.”

Sen. Charles Grassley, R-iowa, said the committee would hear testimony from Kavanaugh and his accuser on Monday.

The committee, Grassley said, would “give these allegations a full airing” in order “to provide ample transparency.”

The prospect of dueling testimony harkens back to law professor Anita Hill’s dramatic appearance in 1991 to level sexual harassment charges at then-nominee Clarence Thomas.

Thomas was nominated by President George H.W. Bush, and a Democraticcontrolled Senate confirmed him 52-48 to the Supreme Court seat he still holds.

As leader of minority Democrats in the Senate, Schumer already had been feeling the heat from progressives and others in the party base to defeat the nomination at all costs.

The allegation from Blasey Ford appeared to give him his best opportunity to do so.

“I believe her,” Schumer said on the Senate floor Monday. “Many, many, many women in America who have been taken advantage of certainly believe her.”

Schumer joined other Democrats in calling for a full-scale FBI investigation of the charges and a delay in the confirmation process until it is complete.

Minority Democrats peppered Kavanaugh with hours of questioning over the course of four days of confirmation hearings. But none of them succeeded in landing blows sufficient to throw the Kavanaugh nomination off course.

Nothing appeared likely to derail Kavanaugh until Blasey Ford, a clinical psychology professor at Palo Alto University in California, stepped forward to recount how at age 15, she was assaulted by Kavanaugh, then 17, and feared he would “inadvertently kill” her.

Blasey Ford recounted how at a party in Washington’s Maryland suburbs, Kavanaugh was “stumbling drunk” as he pushed her down on a bed, tried to yank off her one-piece bathing suit and put his hand over her mouth to prevent screams.

She told The Washington Post she escaped after a friend of Kavanaugh jumped on them and the three went toppling to the floor, enabling her to lock herself in a bathroom.

Although the incident in question took place in the early 1980s and was relayed months ago to Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, the senior Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, the allegation took on a life of its own Monday.

“This may be the one thing that kills the nomination,” said Vincent Bonventre, a law professor at Albany Law School who follows Supreme Court confirmations. “I can’t imagine any senator who wants someone on Supreme Court with this cloud hanging over his head. We all do crazy, stupid things in high school, but we don’t do that.”

Republicans found themselves walking a tightrope between keeping the confirmation on track while not appearing insensitive to the complaint. At least three Republicans whose votes are critical to confirmation — Susan Collins of Maine, Bob Corker of Tennessee and Jeff Flake of Arizona — said the allegation against Kavanaugh must be resolved before a vote takes place.

With a 51-49 majority, Republicans cannot afford to lose more than one vote on their side. At least three Democrats running for reelection this year in states won by Trump in 2016 voted last year for Justice Neil Gorsuch.

But the allegation against Kavanaugh, coming in the midst of growing sensitivity to previously unreported abuse of women by men in high places — the #Metoo movement — could turn what had been a matter of a few votes here or there into a tidal-wave defeat.

Republicans had pledged to confirm Kavanaugh by Oct. 1, the first day of the Supreme Court’s 2018-19 term.

Gillibrand, arguably the Senate’s leading advocate on matters of sexual abuse on campus and in the military, urged Senate colleagues to oppose Kavanaugh.

“The new allegation against Judge Kavanaugh should affect every senator’s view on his nomination,” she tweeted. “Given what we know, I believe it is disqualifying.”

A vote by the Gop-dominated Judiciary Committee had been scheduled for Thursday. Majority Leader Mitch Mcconnell had promised a full Senate vote next week, in time to get Kavanaugh sworn in before Oct. 1. That timeline appeared to be badly damaged with Grassley’s announcement of a new hearing Sept. 24.

At the White House, President Donald Trump praised the 53-year-old Washington, D.C., federal appeals court judge for his “outstanding intellect,” saying he is “respected by everybody; never even had a little blemish on his record.”

He criticized Democrats for leveling an allegation “that should have been brought up long before this.” But he conceded it would take time for the allegation to be resolved. “If it takes a little delay, it’ll take a little delay,” he said.

For Democrats, the allegation against Kavanaugh represents a chance to keep the Supreme Court from adding a fifth reliable conservative whom they see as tipping the court rightward for a generation to come.

For Republicans, delays in the confirmation process eat up valuable time they don’t have.

Further postponement could push the confirmation vote past Election Day, raising the prospect of Democrats retaking control of the Senate — a long shot at this point — that could bring the curtain down on Kavanaugh for good.