GOP enlists sex crimes prosecutor

A veteran Arizona prosecutor with decades of experience handling sex crimes will grill Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh and his accuser during a Senate hearing this week.

Sen. Chuck Grassley (RIowa) named Maricopa County prosecutor Rachel Mitchell late Tuesday as his party’s pick to handle the sensitive session focusing on allegations that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted a teenage girl while he was in high school.

Both Kavanaugh and Christine Blasey Ford, who went public with her claims last week, will appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday.

Ford alleges that a drunken Kavanaugh locked her in a bedroom, pinned her to a bed and covered her mouth to stifle her screams before trying to remove her clothing at a Maryland house party in the 1980s. She was 15 at the time and he was 17. Two other women have since come forward with other sexual misconduct claims against Kavanaugh.

Republicans likely wanted to avoid the bad optics of only having their 11 male members on the Judiciary panel grill Ford about the accusations and turned to Mitchell (inset) to handle the questioning.

How exactly they settled on an Arizona prosecutor over a more high-profile D.C.-based lawyer is not clear.

Mitchell “has been recognized in the legal community for her experience and objectivity,” Grassley said.

Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery, Mitchell’s boss, praised her experience, calling her a “professional, fair, objective prosecutor” who has a “caring heart” for victims.