One day after an explosive, two-act hearing on the sexual and drinking mores of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, the Senate Judiciary Committee is expected this morning to vote on whether to move ahead for a full vote of the chamber.
Committee member Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., will be the bellwether.
Even as Thursday unfolded, first with the accusations of university professor Christine Blasey Ford, then with Kavanaugh’s angry denial, comparisons were being made to a long line of contentious debates over nominees to the high court. Clarence Thomas and Robert Bork became constant footnotes.
But beyond topic and tone, the Kavanaugh hearing had something more that has been widely overlooked – the promise that, even if Republicans succeed in putting Kavanaugh on the high court, his vetting isn’t over.
That vow was made by U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., to Ford toward the end of her testimony. Whitehouse, like many other Democrats, pointed to the GOP decision not to ask the FBI to investigate her claims – including her statement that a third party, Kavanaugh friend Mark Judge, was in the room. (Through his attorney, Judge denied knowledge of the incident.)
"I will make a personal pledge to you here that, however long it takes, in whatever forum I can do it, whenever it's possible, I will do whatever is in my power to make sure that your claims get a thorough and proper investigation, and not just this."
Democratic chances of taking over the Senate after Nov. 6 remain slim. But “whatever forum” could also mean the House, which is far more likely to flip.
A House Judiciary Committee investigation into a sitting Supreme Court justice and the statements he made during the appointment process might not be unprecedented, but it surely would be volatile. Watch Whitehouse’s promise here:
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Our WSB Radio colleague Jamie Dupree caught David Perdue and Johnny Isakson coming out of a late-night Senate Republican conference meeting on Brett Kavanaugh.
Isakson still would not say whether he would vote to confirm the Supreme Court nominee, but that he would support a likely Saturday vote to proceed to debate on the Senate floor. He outlined a schedule that could see a final vote on Tuesday.
Isakson called the Thursday hearing "probably one of the five most interesting days" in the history of the Senate.
Georgia’s senior senator also had kind words for Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who launched a fiery attack on Democrats during the hearing, accusing them of trying to “destroy” Kavanaugh.
“It was ‘Matlock’ at his best. If he’d just had on seersucker suit, he’d have been Matlock all over again,” Isakson said.
Like Isakson, Perdue wouldn't say how he would vote on Kavanaugh, but in recent days he's been complimentary of the nominee. Perdue said he was pleased with the way yesterday's hearing unfolded with the circuit court judge and his accuser, Christine Blasey Ford. "I'm very proud of the committee and Chuck Grassley for doing it in the right, professional way," he told Dupree. "We heard her, we heard him. And I think we accorded it with a professional air on our side that we hoped for."
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As some Republican governors urged the Senate to delay a vote on Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, Gov. Nathan Deal went firmly in the other direction.
As Kavanaugh was still being grilled by Democratic senators, the two-term governor tweeted an endorsement of President Trump's pick for the high court.
"I wholeheartedly support him and encourage our nation's senators to do the same and confirm him to the Supreme Court," he wrote.
Deal made no mention of Christine Blasey Ford, who accused Kavanaugh of sexual assault when they were teenagers. Nor did he address Kavanaugh’s angry self-defense.
“Judge Kavanaugh’s record is impeccable and his testimony speaks for itself,” the Georgia governor wrote.
That stands in contrast to a quartet of Republican governors who have called for caution.
Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker said the “sickening” accusations against Kavanaugh deserve an independent investigation, while Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan also supports a “full investigation.”
Vermont Gov. Phil Scott said he wanted the chamber to “take your time” and Ohio Gov. John Kasich said he “can't support this nomination if they choose to move forward” without a deeper probe.
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Hours after the Senate Judiciary Committee ended its hearing, the American Bar Association, which had endorsed Brett Kavanaugh's nomination to the Supreme Court, called for a pause to allow an FBI investigation into sexual assault allegations against him. From the Washington Post;
"The basic principles that underscore the Senate's constitutional duty of advice and consent on federal judicial nominees require nothing less than a careful examination of the accusations and facts by the FBI," ABA President Robert Carlson wrote in a letter to Chairman Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) and ranking committee Democrat Dianne Feinstein (Calif).
Then we have this from the Rome bureau of the Associated Press:
The magazine of the Jesuit religious order in the United States has publicly withdrawn its endorsement of Judge Brett Kavanaugh as Supreme Court justice following testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee by the Jesuit-educated Kavanaugh and the woman accusing him of sexually assaulting her decades ago.
In an editorial posted late Thursday, America magazine said it had no special insight into whether Kavanaugh or Christine Blasey Ford is telling the truth. But it said that the nomination was no longer in the interests of the country and "should be withdrawn."
"If Senate Republicans proceed with his nomination, they will be prioritizing policy aims over a woman's report of an assault," the editors wrote. "Were he to be confirmed without this allegation being firmly disproved, it would hang over his future decisions on the Supreme Court for decades and further divide the country."
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By now, you know that Stacey Abrams, the Democratic candidate for governor, has endured some personal financial problems. She's sought to turn this to her advantage, portraying her struggles as a way of identifying with the average voter.
Morning Consult is pointing to polling that says this might not work. A taste:
"There's a weird thing in our culture that we tend to want to have political leaders who feel are a little better than us," said Jonah Goldberg, who writes about political and cultural issues at the American Enterprise Institute. "I think it's a human thing because we want to put our leaders on a kind of pedestal. Debt pings a suspicion in people's minds: Is this guy or gal actually better than me, or are they a schlub like me?"
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