Brett Kavanaugh received a lot of conflicting advice from friends and advisers during his controversial confirmation, with some saying he should be gentle when addressing accusation of sexual assault and others claiming he needed a more bullish demeanor.
A new book, ‘Justice on Trial: The Kavanaugh Confirmation and the Future of the Supreme Court,’ which is set for released Tuesday, shares behind-the-scenes details about Kavanaugh’s confirmation, which was plagued with sexual assault allegations dating back decades.
The then-nominee, according to the book, was advised not to show too much emotion during his remarks before Congress. Kavanaugh, however, ended up shedding tears through an emotionally-charged testimony.
‘Kavanaugh had been deluged with advice until the end. His Bush friends, by and large, told him … not to show too much emotion,’ authors Mollie Hemingway and Carrie Severino wrote. ‘But he received calls from a few senators encouraging him to show his righteous indignation.’
Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh received sharply conflicting advice when navigating through his controversial confirmation process
A new book, set for released Tuesday, details the behind-the-scenes process of the hearings that followed sexual assault allegations levied against Kavanaugh
Kavanaugh was confirmed to the Supreme Court in October, after his nomination was delayed by the allegations
Hemingway writes for the Federalist, a right-leaning online media outlet, and is a Fox News contributor. Severino is the chief counsel for a group that advocated for Trump to nominate Kavanaugh, Judicial Crisis Network.
The authors wrote that then-White House Counsel Don McGahn was worried there were ‘too many people’ telling the Supreme Court nominee ‘too many things.’
McGahn, at one point, told everyone to leave the Capitol Hill war room where Kavanaugh was preparing when an aide suggested the nominee be gentle when talking about accuser Christine Blasey Ford.
Others suggested Kavanaugh exhibit a Trump-eque denial of the allegations.
During the hearings that pushed back the vote on his confirmation, Kavanaugh forcefully denied the accusations and said his name has been ‘totally and permanently destroyed’ by the allegations by Blasey Ford, and another accuser, who later came forward and said the nominee had participated in gang rape.
Blasey Ford said during her testimony that she was ‘100 per cent’ sure that Kavanaugh attempted to force himself on her 36 years earlier – when the two were at the same high school party.
‘Brett’s assault on me drastically altered my life,’ Blasey Ford told the Senate Judiciary Committee last year.
The authors wrote that then-White House Counsel Don McGahn was worried there were ‘too many people’ telling Kavanaugh ‘too many things,’ and at one point asked everyone to leave the Capitol Hill war room on the day of the testimony
Kavnaugh’s wife, Ashley, even advised her husband to clean up his comments in reference to a firey interaction he had with Sen. Amy Klobuchar during her questioning
Klobuchar, a member of the Judiciary Committee and a Democratic 2020 candidate, asked the nominee if he had ever drank so much he didn’t remember the event of the night before. He shot back, ‘Have you?’
The book also details how even Kavanaugh’s wife, Ashley, ended up advising him on how to act while testifying.
Amy Klobuchar, a member of the committee, asked Kavanaugh if he ever had so much alcohol that he couldn’t remember what happened the next morning.
‘Have you?’ Kavanaugh fired back – a move that was widely seen as a misstep for the nominee.
Ashley Kavanaugh told her husband during a recess that he needed to clean up his comments, in regard to the interaction with Klobuchar, who is now running in the 2020 Democratic primary for president.
‘As soon as they returned to the holding room, McGahn told Kavanaugh it was time to reel it in,’ the authors wrote. ‘Ashley told Kavanaugh to calm down and encouraged him to find a way to address what he had said.’
After the break, Kavanaugh apologized to the senator from Minnesota.
Christine Blasey Ford alleged that Kavanaugh tried to force himself on her 36 years ago when the two were at the same high school party
The book also describes how Sen. Lindsey Graham’s remarks were the turning point of the hearing
Kavanaugh threw out his opening remarks a day before the hearing when the addition allegations, aside from Blasey Ford’s, were made pubic.
Instead, the authors detailed, he finished writing his remarks the night before and included an addition the day of the hearing – adding in a story about his daughter Liza saying they should all pray for Blasey Ford.
‘Having learned from practice that some parts of the speech would be hard to make it through, he had indicated with his Sharpie where to stop to breathe,’ the authors included in describing the process of writing his uninterrupted statement.
The book also credits Lindsey Graham, Republican senator from South Carolina, for saving Kavanaugh’s confirmation.
During his time on with the floor during the hearing, Graham raised his voice when calling the proceedings the ‘most unethical sham since I’ve been in politics.’
He turned to Democrats and accused them of wanting to have the ‘power,’ and praying they ‘never get it.’