The Senate Judiciary Committee is preparing to vote on Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, just one day after the judge provided an emotional testimony to members of Congress, denying allegations of sexual misconduct.
If the committee approves the nomination, it will then go to the full Senate.
However, no matter how the vote goes, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has the power to bring Kavanaugh’s nomination to a floor vote.
A full Senate confirmation vote could take place early next week.
28 September 2018
Grassley adjourns the session.
“I would only be comfortable moving on the floor” if the FBI completes the investigation. “We owe them due diligence,” says Flake.
“This country is being ripped apart here,” Flake tries to explain himself to the committee. He urges a “short pause” so Democrats can’t complain there hasn’t been an investigation, so “we can then move on.”
Sen. Chris Coons (D-Delaware) is asking for a FBI investigation, “not for the purpose of delay, but to investigate further and… demonstrate a bipartisan commitment” to due diligence.
“I love this committee but we’re not the majority leader. It doesn’t matter what we say here, this is up to Sen. Schumer and Sen. McConnell,” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) points out.
The committee votes: All Republicans are in favor, including Flake. All Democrats are opposed.
The scheduled time for the vote in the Senate Judiciary Committee has come and gone, with a lot of behind-the-scenes activity. Even if he doesn’t get the committee’s recommendation, Kavanaugh can still be confirmed in the Senate floor vote - but the committee has to vote, one way or another.
The senators are now taking a break before the vote takes place.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) is making a last appeal to avoid a rush to judgment, asking for the vote to be delayed.
Blumenthal says Kavanaugh was "filled with anger" on Thursday, causing him to believe he would not be an impartial voice on the Supreme Court.
Kavanaugh's views are a "disqualifer" for Blumenthal. But his "character and fitness" should be disqualifers for everyone.
Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) says there were no winners on Thursday, just two people in pain. He adds that he is certain something happened to Ford, but does not believe Kavanaugh was involved.
"And that is why I support his nomination."
"This is no country for creepy young men, or old men, or middle-aged men," he said, adding that the way women are treated in America matters. However, due process is necessary.
He says that the person or people who breached Ford's anonymity by leaking the letter and not telling her she could have testified in private should "hide their head in a bag for the rest of their natural life."
Hashtag #delaytheVote has been trending in the US since morning.
Sen. Mike Crapo (R-ID) says he has no doubt that Ford was sexually assaulted. However, he believes Kavanaugh's testimony was honest, and doesn't believe the evidence shows that Kavanaugh was present at the event recalled by Ford.
Sen. Chris Coons (D -DE) says he is certain that Feinstein and her staff were not behind the leak of Ford's letter.
He says Ford's case is typical in cases of sexual assault, citing the fact that she did not disclose what happened in the moment, and that she only remembers some details.
Coons worries about the message the US is sending to assault survivors if we "plow ahead with this nomination," asking for a one-week pause for an FBI investigation to take place.
He goes on to state that Ford told her husband and friends about the incident long before Kavanugh's nomination, suggesting that this helps her credibility.
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) says both Kavanaugh and Ford have been "dragged through the mud."
He said that Kavanaugh has two young daughters who will have to go to school and have classmates allege that their father is a rapist.
Cruz said that when two people's testimonies directly conflict, as is the case with Kavanaugh and Ford, you have to "look at what the rest of the evidence demonstrates."
He goes on to state that the three names given by Ford as witnesses refute her story. Of those, the person who is most revealing is Kaiser, Ford's close friend, according to Cruz.
"Kaiser had every incentive to back up her story" and didn't, Cruz said.
The senator also said that he didn't initially take Kavanaugh's calendars to be terribly reliable evidence, until he walked the committee through the details of each day, showing that he was often out of town during the period that he allegedly assaulted Ford.
Cruz noted that Kavanaugh is known as a "boring Boy Scout."
Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) says "there was a lot of chest beating that went on yesterday on the other side and it was pretty effective I guess, if the goal was to distract the American public" from Ford's testimony.
Ford is not being given the respect she is owed because an FBI investigation is not taking place, Klobuchar says. "What are you hiding? What would it hurt?" she asks, stating that if Kavanaugh is so certain in his testimony, why not let an investigation happen?
The fact that Ford mentioned the alleged sexual assault years before, "that means a lot," Klobuchar says.
Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) says this should have been investigated by the FBI at the beginning, in a manner which would have been more respectful to Kavanaugh and Ford.
Grassley responded to Whitehouse's comment with the calendar saying that the entry with acronyms of names referred to a sports event.
Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) has taken out a board with Kavanaugh's calendar and tried to "decode" his note.
Whitehouse says Kavanaugh's partisan "screed" on Thursday was "telling" of his character, stating that he "ranted and raved" and filibustered. "I did not find him credible."
He is stating the importance of an FBI investigation, and of hearing all of the allegations against Kavanaugh.
"We have done a botch of an investigation. Over time, I expect the facts come out....the sand is running through Kavanaugh's hourglass."
Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) said Ford should be treated the same way he would want his wife, daughters, or mother treated if they were in similar circumstances. "Conversely, I want to make sure we treat Judge Kavanaugh the same way we would treat my father, brother, or son."
He says that he is proud of the way the committee treated Ford on Thursday, despite allegations from "friends across the aisle" who say otherwise.
As for the Senate's behavior, Cornyn said that "cruelty, recklessness, and indecency" is being shown towards the people that the Senate should be treating with "respect and dignity."
That extends to Mark Judge, he says, calling out Democrats for wanting to take him and his personal battles with alcohol, addiction, and anxiety and make them public in front of the committee. "That is cruel," he said.
Cornyn said the way that both Kavanaugh and Ford have been treated "is a scandal."
Richard Durbin (D-IL) says the FBI should be allowed to complete an investigation before the committee meets again to evaluate its findings. He said he has no doubt that Dianne Feinstein kept her promise to keep Ford's identity a secret, and that she did not leak the letter to The Intercept.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) says he is a single white male from South Carolina who has been told to "shut up." He says he will not shut up; he will act as the voice of those he represents. Graham says Donald Trump did a good job in nominating Kavanaugh.
Every woman who has been victimized needs to be heard, Graham said, but added that the allegations against Kavanaugh are "garbage." He added that someone betrayed Ford's trust by not letting her remain anonymous, but it wasn't Dianne Feinstein.
If this is the new standard, the accusation proves itself...God help us all.
He said this has never been about finding the truth, but has rather been about "delay and destruction." If this is rewarded, it is the "end of good people wanting to be judges," the end of any concept of the rule of law, and the beginning of a process that will "tear this country apart."
He said that an FBI investigation would do nothing. "It's not going to tell you anything we don't know now."
"I'm going to vote yes, and I'm going to tell [Kavanaugh's] two daughters that 'I'm proud of your dad and I really, really believe he's a good man.'"
Mark Judge has effectively hung a "do not disturb" sign and apparently Republicans think that's acceptable, Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) says, stating that he would like Judge to be brought in to answer questions under oath.
Leahy says that during his time on the committee, he has never seen such "volatility, partisanship, and lack of judicial temperament" from any Supreme Court nominee.
Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) says this entire process has become a "circus."
Hatch said it's time to "show some dignity around here" and vote.
Grassley went on to reprimand Democrats for not bringing the allegations public earlier. He touched upon the accusations by Julie Swetnick that Kavanaugh attended parties where women had been gang raped saying that FBI couldn't not have missed when the agency did six background checks on him when he worked for the White House.
Committee's chair Grassley has called to order several times since the beginning of the meeting addressing both to reporters and senators and staffers who were talking.
Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) says Kavanaugh "used as much political rhetoric" as her Republican colleagues and "went on the attack" during his Thursday testimony.
Feinstein said Kavanaugh did not show the impartial temperament expected from a judge, calling him "aggressive" and "belligerent."
"Our colleagues on the other side of the aisle had their minds [made up] before one word was uttered" from Ford's mouth, Feinstein said of her Republican colleagues.
She went on repeating some of the details of Ford's testimony on Thursday, saying that she doesn't consider Kavanaugh guilty, but going on with confirmation as if there were accusations is not possible.
Several Democratic senators walked out of the meeting.
US Senate panel sets initial Kavanaugh vote for 01:30 pm EST (17:30 GMT)
Grassley said he found both testimonies to be sincere, but said there is no reason to deny Kavanaugh a seat based on the information brought forth on Thursday, noting that the three witnesses cited by Ford have not confirmed her testimony.
Grassley said that the questions asked to Ford on Thursday were respectful, while his Democratic colleagues were "hostile" towards Kavanaugh.
The vote to subpoena Mark Judge Kavanaugh's friend has resulted in a "no."
A letter was read that was submitted by Judge following Kavanugh's testimony on Thursday, in which he said that he does not recall the events relayed by Ford. He noted that he has not spoken to Kavanaugh directly for several years.
Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley has begun opening statements.
Minutes before the session Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) has stated that he will vote in favor of Kavanaugh being appointed, after previously being undecided.