Just when the Republican thought they could wrap things up with a Q & An of the woman who has accused Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault by Monday and have their vote?
Things went sideways…..
Michael Judge who has been named as the guy in the room when the alleged assault occurred has told Senator’s he does NOT want to come before the Judiciary Committee because he doesn’t remember anything back more than 30 years ago….
Christine Blasey Ford, Kavanaugh’s accuser now says she will NOT appear either until the FBI follows up on her reports of the incident , something that could take a while….
Republican leaders in the Senate have been searching all day to get the vote for their guy out of the committee…But things are bouncing around….
Senator Grassley the committee chair seems determined to get the vote done and on to the whole Senate by the end of next week….But?
The whole thing is actually gonna come down to the 3 Republican Senator’s it always comes down to these days…..Collins, Flake and Murkowski….and possibly Corker…
If these 3 or 4 hold out for Ford and Democratic demands?
There will be no vote until after the midterm elections, something the Republican leadership just DOES NOT want….
This whole thing is fluid right now….
Stay tune for developments….
The woman accusing Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault says she will not testify until the FBI investigates her claims.
A lawyer for Kavanaugh’s accuser, Christine Blasey Ford, said Tuesday evening that she wanted the FBI to investigate as “the first step” in the process before Ford goes “on national television to relive this traumatic and harrowing incident,” according to The New York Times.
Ford’s lawyer had previously said that she was generally willing to testify before the Judiciary Committee, as had Kavanaugh.
GOP senators have offered to ban cameras from the hearing, which is scheduled for next Monday.
“She has the option of a closed session, with cameras or without,” said Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), a member of the Judiciary panel. “We want her to appear and she has said before we made the decision that she wanted to appear.”
She alleges that Kavanaugh pinned her to a bed at a party in the early 1980s and attempted to remove her clothes. She came forward publicly in The Washington Post on Sunday….
Ford has receive threats of violence against her….
The woman who has accused Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault has been forced out of her home due to death threats, her lawyers said Tuesday.
Christine Blasey Ford’s lawyers told Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) in a letter that the Palo Alto University professor has been effectively forced into hiding over violent messages targeting her and her family.
“In the 36 hours since her name became public, Dr. Ford has received a stunning amount of support from her community and from fellow citizens across our country. At the same time, however, her worst fears have materialized,” her lawyers wrote in the letter.
“She has been the target of vicious harassment and even death threats. As a result of these kind of threats, her family was forced to relocate out of their home. Her email has been hacked, and she has been impersonated online,” the letter continued…..
Jim Sciutto
@jimsciutto
The offer to #ChristinaBlaseyFord is blunt: testify in public six days from now while under death threats or your allegation will be ignored in the confirmation of a SCOTUS nominee. That is quite a choice….
twitter…
This is untrue. She was given the option of testifying privately as well. They have left the choice up to her.
It seems like she does not want to testify. That is fine, but then the vote should occur.
If there is something for the FBI to look into that they never found during all of Kavanaugh’s previous FBI background checks that is fine, but by not testifying, she seems to be saying that maybe her version is not as accurate as first portrayed and she wants someone to check that out first.
If she is telling the truth, why not just go to the “jury?”
What I think is that there is no way in the world that the Democrats expected Republicans to want hearings on the matter, either public or private (and Trumpists were apocalyptic at first when Republicans started saying they wanted to hear her version.) They thought it would be Republicans who would want to punt this to the FBI instead of allowing the accuser to be heard. They want Donald Trump attacking her via Twitter (and maybe he still will.)
The bottom line is that Senate Republicans called the Democrats’ bluff and the Democrats are flailing away now trying to deal with the situation. Their witness does not want to take an oath that could be enforceable under law.
For the Democrats, none of this is about what happened in 1982 and if Dr. Ford was a victim of a horrible act by Kavanaugh (which I very much doubt) or by anyone else. It is about trying to stop Donald Trump (and this would be the case with any Republican who would have won in 2016), from appointing another Supreme Court Justice. They blew their option back with Harry’s Reid nuclear option and are in need of any sort of Hail Mary. At this point, this is all about delaying the vote, until after the midterms, for the outside chance that Democrats somehow win the Senate and can keep this Supreme Court seat open until 2021. That would be a huge political problem for Democrats.
Dr. Ford clearly never wanted to testify. She did not want to run the risk of committing a felony. Someone is taking advantage of her. It was certainly not a Republican who leaked her name and forced her to come forward publicly with the allegation, Obviously, it was better for Kavanaugh if the allegation was anonymous. If she is getting threats, that is horrible, and anybody who does so should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, but it was a Democrat who even put her in that position.
They tried this tactic with Clarence Thomas a generation ago and it failed. Public opinion was with the judge after all that sordid testimony. As long as Kavanaugh is honest in a public forum, the same will happen this time.
Why would Feinstein sit on this for months when she had so many opportunities, both publicly and privately to bring this up or to ask Judge Kavanaugh if this happened? Clearly, they did not think this allegation was credible or could remotely be proven. Then the hearings happened, and Democrats couldn’t lay a glove on Kavanaugh and they had to resort to something else. Feinstein needs to publicly address the “rumor” going around that this same accuser had said that Neil Gorsuch assaulted her a long time ago in a letter. I can only hope for the sake of democracy that is a right-wing fabrication, because if that is true and Feinstein knew about that, and then went public with this on Kavanaugh, she ought to be expelled from the Senate.
I despise Donald Trump and a lot of others do too, but are also able to see through the cynical politics of all of this. If Dr. Ford can credibly demonstrate that Judge Kavanaugh has lied in recent days about what might have happened when he was in High School, then that should be brought forward to the Senate. Otherwise, Democrats need to accept this is over. Stop acting like Donald Trump. Stop acting like the ends justify the means. All you will do in the short term is rally Republican voters to come out in the midterms an some Red State Senators may lose because of it.
One day, a Democrat will be President again (maybe), and that person will get to nominate a Supreme Court Justice in a non-election year/Biden Rule situation and I don’t think you will want Republicans to simply retaliate.
Of course they are giving Dr. Ford an either or choice here, they are doing exactly what was done to Anita Hill, by tomorrow afternoon she will be a crazy slut. She is well within her rights to demand an additional background check.
Interesting that someone who professes such abject hatred for Donald Trump would support every act he takes.
It’s clear that these are credible accusations, and that the longer this goes more damaging information will come out. So why the rush. Brett said publicly that “what happens at Georgetown Prep, stays at Georgetown Prep.” The “Preppy Old Boys Wall” might be broken if we wait any longer, and the FBI would be a perfect vehicle to investigate further. Imagine the outrage of the privileged.
So, ignore the woman and full speed ahead without access to the accuser’s testimony or thousands of documents. Did the Republicans learn anything 37 years ago.
Interesting how these issues are important and now they aren’t. We have, for example, heard of how terrible some of my past exploits were that occurred over 30 years ago, but an attempted rape during the same time frame is dismissed as no big deal.
The fact that Al Franken was pictured with his hands levitating above a Kevlar vest was enough to demand his removal from the Senate, but an alcohol fueled sexual assault is simply a youthful folly. One that would have gotten young Brett barred from law school.
Different rules for different people, Republican people.
The hysterical response here is enough to tell me that we have a perfect storm brewing, one that exposes the “power at any cost” Republican Majority for what it is.
They would rather destroy the reputation of an innocent woman than risk losing a Judge who is already in the tank for Trump.
Think about that the next time our Republican friend starts telling us all how much he opposes Trump.
Once again, who among us doesn’t now believe Anita Hill? Why wouldn’t we believe Dr. Ford unless there is simply, like Brett Kavanaugh, a partisan hack among us?!
Let the investigation begin, if Brett is innocent what does he have to hide?
Thankfully, if you would have ever been nominated to the Supreme Court, there would have been an ample number of witnesses willing to testify under oath in regards to your character and pattern of behavior.
I would have certainly been willing to speak to the FBI, if contacted, about the sexually abusive comments and actions you directed towards me.
But hey, you are retired now. Enjoy life!
The Trump Republicans appreciate your support.
I believe Brett Kavanaugh is innocent. I believe Clarence Thomas is innocent.
I believe Donald Trump and Roy Moore were guilty and there have been plenty other personally sleazy Republicans as well such as Eric Greitens and Blake Farenthold.
So, I am consistent on these matters. I look at the evidence, the credibility of claims made against people, and if there is a pattern of behavior.
Now, those on the left who talk about Clarence Thomas and now Brett Kavanaugh will never say anything about Bill Clinton or Ted Kennedy or Chris Dodd or especially Keith Ellison today, who allegedly beat up his girlfriend severely, and yet remains the #2 figure at the DNC and the party’s nominee for Attorney General of all things.. In those cases, as long as the figure is “right” on the issues, anything that they might have done in their “personal life” is none of anyone’s business.
When Congressman Alan Grayson was alleged to have gotten physical with his ex-wife, some Democrats here said things like “well, things happen in a marriage”, or “I’m more offended by people who have bad driving records.”
So, clearly blind partisanship goes the other way (and I also thought Al Gore was innocent of the rape charge made against him.)
You “believe” Kavanaugh is innocent because you have a boner about him getting on the Court and overturning Roe v Wade. Because as a man you somehow think you should have control over women’s bodies
You are a Trump. Republican.
Plain and simple. I don’t give a shit that you are uncomfortable with Trump being the face of your party. Policy wise–you are fine with it. Be a man and fucking own it!
The Republicans will look to Collins, Murkowski, Flake and Corker to join them in moving for the vote….
If those four join them?
It’s a done deal….
If they hold out and Red state Dem’s use the #MeToo issue as a foil?
This whole thing could just fall apart …
Having Trump jump in would get the vote no doubt…
But would cost the GOPer’s even MORE seats in the House and possibly the Senate…
Win the battle….
Lose the war…
Why does everyone here spend so much time and space (which inevitably wastes my space and time) arguing over labels ? It’s tedious and childish.
Most of us know what Corey’s position is, so argue over the points — for example, if you think that “in reality” he’s supporting Trump more than he opposes him — than over trying to fix a label on him that he rejects.
There are many, many people who’d say that I’m not “really” a socialist, and many, many others who’d insist that if I’m a socialist then perforce I can’t be democratic. I find it far more useful to argue with them over specific points and policies than to haggle over what label to stick in front of after my own name.
Here’s the difference, besides the fact our friend Corey is willing to apply false equv
Sorry, fingers move too fast.
False equivalencies to the Kavanaugh charges.
Al Franken and every other Democrat Corey has condemned and demanded resignations from has been before the voters. They were elected and the voters had a voice in their selection.
And, just like Clarence and his porn stash, Kavanaugh will have a lifetime appointment.
Different rules that should require a different response.
But you cannot seriously believe that Thomas didn’t sexually harass Anita Hill, an act, given your goody two shoe response to anything that has to do with sex, you would have condemned in a heart beat if Clarence was a Democrat.
Why even your equivalencies here don’t pass the smell test. If you’re willing to imply that Al Gore is guilty of rape without sufficient proof, why wouldn’t you favor a thorough investigation of Kavanaugh?
Silly question, you don’t because you’re still a Republican who supports the Trump agenda.
So Corey come up with a new line. One that isn’t totally hypocritical.
I fully expect Kavanaugh to be rammed through by the Republican Majority. They’re a misogynist bunch of old white farts who have only one goal, power. I am sure Mitch McConnell would crawl naked through broken glass to vote for Kavanaugh if he had to. I wonder when the last time Elaine saw him naked.
It does seem reasonable to ask the FBI to investigate this situation, and yes, I have been already investigated by the FBI, thoroughly investigated, when I got my security clearances from the government. A clearance I still hold since I have been asked to use it since I left Federal service. Feds never really retire Corey.
But if you keep working Corey maybe you’ll get to talk to that FBI agent someday.
You can explain how you really don’t support Trump while you support every move he makes.
A new Reuters/Ipsos poll finds that 36% of adults surveyed did not want Judge Brett Kavanaugh on the Supreme Court, up 6 percentage points from a similar poll conducted a month earlier.
Just 31% of adults said they were in favor of Kavanaugh’s appointment….
Politicalwire….
This poll is useless…
The Republicans want their guy in the court….
The public doesn’t count….
Latest from committee chair Grasley….
Talking Points Memo
@TPM
Republicans to Ford: We’re not moving the hearing, so take it or leave it http://bit.ly/2DaCnBx
twitter….
Collins seems to be backing the FORD no show Monday?
We don the vote line form Grassley….
This is absolutely NO surprise for Collins….
Grassley offering to fly staff out to the West Coast to Q & A Ford is the latest….
Grassley now says Ford’s lawyer has not contacted him,…
He now sets Friday as a deadline for contact before he tries to move ahead ….