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Supreme Court candidate Brett Kavanaugh testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee at his confirmation hearing on September 6.
Drew Angerer / Getty Images
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Drew Angerer / Getty Images
Supreme Court candidate Brett Kavanaugh testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee at his confirmation hearing on September 6.
Drew Angerer / Getty Images
Republican Senate leaders plan to hold a hearing on a sexual assault charge against Supreme Court candidate Brett Kavanaugh, despite the lack of response from his accuser, Christine Blasey Ford.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of the R-Ky., Said Tuesday that the Senate Judiciary Committee offers Ford the opportunity to testify in public or in camera about his allegations that Kavanaugh years ago .
"She could do it privately if she prefers, or publicly if she prefers," said McConnell, adding that "Monday is her opportunity". He pointed out that Kavanaugh is eager to provide his testimony.
The chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Chuck Grassley, of R-Iowa, told reporters that he had not heard from Ford or his lawyers, but he expects to what the audience is going as planned. Staff from his committee conducted telephone interviews with alleged witnesses related to the incident that Ford described at the Washington Post as having occurred in the early 1980s when she and Kavanaugh were teenagers from suburban Washington. The organizers schedule follow-up sessions as needed to obtain additional information prior to this public meeting.
Ford named Mark Judge, a classmate of Kavanaugh's, as a witness to the incident at the high school party, but the judge told the Weekly Standard earlier this week that he did not remember the episode.
Grassley's office released Tuesday a letter from the judge's attorney with a statement telling him that he had "no memory" of the incident. He also stated: "I have no more information to offer to the Committee and I do not wish to speak publicly about the incidents described in Dr. Ford's letter."
Democrats have rejected the GOP process and refuse to participate in committee telephone conversations. They insist that the hearing be delayed to further explore the allegations. They want additional witnesses, beyond Kavanaugh and Ford, to be added to Monday's hearing.
But their first request is for the FBI to conduct a full assessment before any hearing, a proposal that President Trump himself rejected on Tuesday.
"It's not what they do," Trump said. "They have now done six background checks, as Judge Kavanaugh rose beautifully on a ladder."
On Monday, a spokesman for the Justice Department said the FBI was not involved in the cases unless a federal crime was alleged and he completed his work on Kavanaugh's background check.
Speaking at a joint press conference with Polish President Andrzej Sebastian Duda, Mr Trump said Tuesday that he was feeling "so badly" that Kavanaugh was going through the trial of the accusations .
"I feel terribly for him, for his wife and for his beautiful girls," said Trump. "I feel terribly for them"
Senator Patty Murray of Washington State, 3rd Democrat in the Senate, told the press that an FBI investigation was needed to ensure a full and unbiased assessment of the charges.
"Scheduling a hearing for Monday, one week from Dr. Ford's public release of his charges, is a shameful attempt to get things moving without giving anyone time to investigate and gather the questions to ask." said Murray. . "It's a test for the United States Senate on how we handle the charges of sexual harassment and aggression."
Murray and other Democrats draw a direct parallel between the claims against Kavanaugh and those raised in 1991 when Anita Hill accused Clarence Thomas of sexual harassment during his confirmation hearings for the Supreme Court. At the time, an all-male Senate Judiciary Committee interviewed Hill during televised hearings, cast doubt on his charges, and finally confirmed Thomas at court.
This incident inspired a record number of women to run for federal office, including Murray, who was elected the following year. Murray told reporters that America – and women in particular – would follow closely how Ford's case is handled.
"If the Republicans attack Dr. Ford and it turns into something like what we saw in 1991, the women of the country will be heard and the Republicans will pay a very high price," said Murray. "I am here today to say, again, that women are watching, we will not let that happen again."
McConnell and other leaders say they want to hear directly from Ford but hope they will appear before the committee on Monday, accusing the Democrats of conducting a disordered review of Kavanaugh's case.
"Next week, Dr. Ford and Judge Kavanaugh will testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee under oath," McConnell said Tuesday. "We should not have come to this point, that this process has proceeded with so little order and that so little sensitivity lies at the feet of the Democrats of the Senate."
Republicans have accused California senator Dianne Feinstein, the Democratic Supreme Judicial Committee, of having concealed details of Ford's charge for several months after being sent to his office in July.
Feinstein returned the information to the FBI but did not discuss it until Ford was made public last weekend. She defended her decision to keep the private letter on Tuesday, saying that she respected Ford's request for anonymity and the procedure to follow to work with federal investigators.
"What we were trying to do was get an investigation," said Feinstein. "We were going through this whole process."
Some Republicans warn that the Judiciary Committee must walk lightly and treat the charges with respect, regardless of their timing. Retired senator Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., Told reporters that there was a risk of being too aggressive or appearing as an attacker of Ford. McConnell and other senior GOP executives repeatedly emphasized that Ford deserved to be heard and they hoped that she would agree to testify.
The senator of Maine, Susan Collins, who is one of the few Republicans not to say if she plans to support Kavanaugh, has proposed to call Kavanaugh and Ford to testify and to allow their lawyers to question them in as witnesses. "I think that would spark the most information," Collins said.
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