Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh’s prospects of confirmation remained in doubt Tuesday as a key Republican Senate holdout said her vote was in part contingent on whether a woman who brings forth accusations ‘is to be believed.’
Murkowski, who helped sink President Trump and the GOP’s plan to repeal Obamacare, voiced her concerns as Kavanaugh faced accusations from two named accusers – and was being challenged on claims about his past that he made in a Fox News interview.
Another holdout, Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, said she will be ‘glued to the television’ during the blockbuster hearing set for Thursday where both Kavanaugh and Ford will testify.
‘It is about whether or not a woman who has been a victim at some point in her life is to be believed,’ said Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska
Another holdout, Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, said she will be ‘glued to the television’ during the blockbuster hearing set for Thursday
No he said, she said: Lisa Murkowski’s intervention makes the hearing at which Christine Blasey Ford is due to testify ahead of Brett Kavanaugh even more of a knife-edge for the Republican establishment
‘We are now in a place where it’s not about whether or not Judge Kavanaugh is qualified,’ Murkowski told the New York Times.
‘It is about whether or not a woman who has been a victim at some point in her life is to be believed,’ she said.
Murkowski, who does not sit on the Judiciary panel and who is one of a pair of pro-choice women in the Senate GOP, stressed the importance of the hearing in her decision, rather than Kavanaugh’s conservative credentials.
‘All you can try to do is be as fair as possible to ensure that at the end of the day justice is delivered,’ Murkowski told the paper.
In Separate comments Tuesday she said she would be ‘listening to every word.’
‘How can I base the credibility based on just what I read coming out of you all?’ she told members of the press. She also said she wanted to hear form Debbie Ramirez, a second accuser. The White House said it was open to her testifying, though there has been no movement as of yet from the Judiciary Committee.
‘If there are allegations out there, Miss Ramirez needs to be willing to come forward with them and just as Dr. Ford has been willing to come forward, albeit reluctantly, and I understand that is so, and so in order for us to take it under consideration, she needs to take the next step,’ she said. ‘I don’t know if she has, but I do think that is important.’
Collins also called for hearing testimony from Ramirez, who claims Kavanaugh exposed himself to her at a Yale party decades ago. Ford claims Kavanaugh groped her and covered her mouth while trying to rape her during high school in the 1980s. Kavanaugh vigorously denies both allegations.
‘I believe that the committee investigators should reach out to Deborah Ramirez in order to question her under oath about what she is alleging happened,’ said Collins.
Demonstrators protest against Supreme Court Associate Justice nominee Brett Kavanaugh outside of Sen. Susan Collins’ office, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. on September 24, 2018
‘We’re going to be moving forward. I’m confident we’re going to win, confident that he’ll be confirmed in the very near future,’ said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell
Collins also helped doom the GOP’s Obamacare repeal, and voted against President Bill Clinton’s impeachment. But the former Senate staffer has also made comments critical of how Democrats have handled the Kavanaugh proceedings. If Murkowski were to vote ‘no,’ it could be up to Collins whether Kavanaugh gets confirmed.
Retiring Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) called for delaying a scheduled hearing last week after Christine Blasey Ford’s bombshell allegations emerged. So did retiring Tennessee Sen. Bob Corker, although Corker also said after the Ramirez allegations that the confirmation was becoming like a ‘circus.’
Judiciary Republicans have hired a female lawyer to question Ford at the hearing to avoid a potential spectacle by the all-male panel members.
After delivering a blistering floor speech claiming Kavanaugh was facing ‘smears,’ Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is planning for a quick floor vote after the hearing. It could come on the weekend or as early as next Tuesday.
‘We’re going to be moving forward. I’m confident we’re going to win, confident that he’ll be confirmed in the very near future,’ McConnell said. ‘I believe he’ll be confirmed, yes.’
Senate Republicans on the Judiciary Committee are refusing to release the name of the attorney they hired to conduct the questioning.
Senate Judiciary Chairman Charles Grassley said he is holding back the name of the female lawyer who will question Brett Kavanaugh accuser Christine Blasey Ford for the lawyer’s safety
The Senate Republicans who oversaw three days of hearings on Kavanaugh are preparing to hand over their normal investigative role int he blockbuster hearing set for Thursday.
Having the lawyer pepper Christine Blasey Ford with questions might spare the Senate Republicans who run the committee of potentially bad optics of having the all male, aging committee members conducting a televised interrogation of a woman claiming assault.
But the identity of the lawyer herself remains a mystery. ‘We aren’t announcing the name for her safety,’ Senate Judiciary Chairman Charles Grassley of Iowa told Politico.
Ford’a lawyer, Debra Katz, blasted the decision not to hand over the name of the lawyer – which might allow for better preparation – in an email to Grassley’s chief lawyer.
‘Are there reasons – other than strategic advantage and unfair surprise – that you will not tell us the name of the experienced sex crimes prosecutor?’ Katz wrote, USA Today reported.
THESE GUYS KNOW HOW TO ASK QUESTIONS ALSO: The all-male Senate Republican panel elected to hire a female lawyer to ask questions of Kavanaugh’s accuser
‘Are there reasons – other than strategic advantage and unfair surprise – that you will not tell us the name of the experienced sex crimes prosecutor?’ wrote Ford’s lawyer Debra Katz to the committee
Committee counsel Mike Davis also replied that it was ‘for safety reasons’ – although the Capitol has its own police force and has various ways to ensure the safety of visiting dignitaries and lawmakers.
Another of Ford’s lawyers, Michael Bromwich, complained: ‘This is not a criminal trial for which the involvement of an experienced sex crimes prosecutor would be appropriate. ‘Neither Dr. Blasey Ford nor Judge Kavanaugh is on trial. The goal should be to develop the relevant facts, not try a case,’ he added.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell brought up the decision when asked how an all-male committee and an all-male GOP leadership committee could make decisions that have such an impact on women.
‘We’re looking for the truth here. I don’t think because you happen to be a male you are disqualified from listening to the evidence and making a decision based upon the evidence,’ said McConnell.
‘We have hired a female assistant to go on staff and to ask these questions in a respectful and professional way. We want this hearing to be handled very professionally. Not a political side-show like you saw put on by the Democrats when they were questioning Judge Kavanaugh,’ he said.
Republican senators have been told to prepare for a possible floor vote on Kavanaugh’s nomination this weekend. Sen. John Cornyn of Texas said if Kavanaugh’s was reported by the Judiciary Committee by Friday, a vote could occur ‘by the first part of next week.’
Judiciary member Sen. Orrin Hatch is even more anxious for a vote. ‘I think it’s going to be pretty hard to move this along without having votes on, certainly Friday and Saturday,’ he said, predicting a weekend work session, BuzzFeed reported.
Democrats plan to ask their own questions of Ford and Kavanaugh.
A day after Kavanaugh proclaimed his innocence and President Trump bashed a second accuser, Debbie Ramirez, Senate leaders were setting a course for a quick vote.
‘I look forward eagerly to hearing from both Dr. Ford and Judge Kavanaugh under oath this Thursday morning. I am glad we will be able to hear testimony from both,’ Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said on Tuesday in the Senate. ‘And then I look forward to an up-or-down vote on this nomination right here on the Senate floor.’
Trump fired at Kavanaugh’s accusers at the UN on Tuesday, saying Ramirez ‘has nothing’ and was ‘totally inebriated and all messed up’ at a Yale party decades ago where she claims Kavanaugh exposed himself.
Trump called it a ‘ con game being played by Democrats.’
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said Tuesday the White House was ‘open’ to having a second accuser, Deborah Ramirez, testify on Thursday. Ramirez claims Kavanaugh exposed himself to her at a Yale party decades ago.
Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee on Tuesday called the Ramirez allegation ‘thin,’ and added: ”This is really kind of getting carried away.’ He added: ‘It’s feeling more like a circus.’