GOP works to save Kavanaugh nomination despite ‘11th hour’ tactic

WASHINGTON — The woman who has accused Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexaul assault three decades ago wants the FBI to investigate her allegation before she testifies at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, her lawyers said in a letter to the panel Tuesday.

The lawyers wrote that Christine Blasey Ford, who is now a college professor in California, wants to cooperate with the panel. But in the days since she publicly accused Kavanaugh of the assault when they were teens at a party 35 years ago, she has been the target of “vicious harassment and even death threats.” Her family has relocated, they said.

An FBI investigation “should be the first step in addressing the allegations,” the lawyers wrote in the letter, which was obtained by The Associated Press.

Democrats also are pushing for an FBI investigation into the allegation that a drunken Kavanaugh, then in high school, pinned Ford to a bed, groped her and tried to remove her clothes before she escaped. The incident allegedly took place in a home in the Maryland suburbs of the District of Columbia, where both teens attended separate private schools.

Kavanaugh has unequivocally denied the incident.

Senate Republicans on Tuesday cast the allegation against Kavanaugh as an “11th hour” political tactic by Democrats to scuttle the appointment.

Republicans hope to save the nomination and agreed to hold a hearing with Kavanaugh and Ford next Monday after lawmakers from both parties urged the Senate to fully hear the accuser tell her story.

“We’re looking forward to hearing what she says on Monday,” said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.

The hastily called hearing is a risk for Republicans, and comes just weeks before midterm elections that could alter the makeup of the House and Senate.

It also evokes comparisons of the Clarence Thomas-Anita Hill testimony nearly three decades ago that focused national attention on the Supreme Court nominee and the law professor who detailed allegations of sexual harassment.

President Donald Trump, who nominated Kavanaugh in July, has been restrained in his comments about the allegations leveled by Ford.

“I feel so badly for him that he’s going through this, to be honest with you. I feel so badly for him. This is not a man that deserves this,” Trump said Tuesday during a White House news conference with the Polish president.

GOP blames Democrats

Republican leaders have avoided attacks on Ford and instead focused their ire on Democrats for bringing to light the allegation of sexual assault after four days of hearings.

McConnell said Senate process is out of order because Democrats “at the 11th hour” chose to introduce the allegations after the Judiciary Committee held a four-day hearing.

McConnell said the chaos of the confirmation lies “at the feet of Senate Democrats who saw political advantage.”

Ford told a therapist of the attack in 2006, after she was married. When Kavanaugh was being considered for the Supreme Court nomination, Ford sent a letter to Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., and Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., outlining the allegation but also seeking confidentiality.

Feinstein was aware of the allegation in July, and did not question Kavanaugh about the incident during an August hearing, in public or private.

Ford went public with her allegation on Sunday.

Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said Feinstein adhered to the requests of Ford and said the FBI should conduct a preliminary investigation into the allegations, since Republicans “assume Dr. Ford’s testimony is not credible.”

“Republicans have prejudged this and dismissed this as political,” Durbin said.

Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, who as a former Nevada attorney general made the rights of victims of domestic violence a priority, said it was important that the Judiciary Committee hear from Ford.

“I think she should be heard. She should not be revictimized, she should not be shamed and there should be an investigation,” Cortez Masto said. “There should be time for a thorough investigation of what happened here.”

Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said the Senate Judiciary hearing next Monday should also be expanded to include expert witnesses and testimony from Mark Judge, a friend of Kavanaugh who was said to be in the room during the alleged attack and who has recently said the incident never happened.

“Someone is not telling the truth,” Schumer said.

Vote possible next week

Republicans are pushing to conduct the hearing and hold a committee vote as early as next week to seat Kavanaugh on the Supreme Court, which begins its fall session in October.

Schumer and other Democrats have tried to slow the pace of the process, drawing parallels to the Thomas confirmation hearings in 1991 when Hill, a former subordinate, came forward with accusations of sexual harassment.

Hill was called to testify during televised hearings before Thomas’ 52-48 confirmation vote.

Thomas called the hearing a “high-tech lynching.”

Another accuser declined to testify, although she provided written testimony to the panel that also detailed sexual harassment. Hill sat alone as she testified before the Judiciary Committee, fielding harsh questions from lawmakers who attacked her credibility.

Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., told reporters that scenario should not happen with Ford in an age of empowerment and the #MeToo movement.

“Women are watching,” Murray said. “We are not going to allow that to happen again.”

A letter signed by Democratic women representatives in the House, including Dina Titus and Jacky Rosen of Nevada, urged Senate leaders to hold off on confirmation actions on Kavanaugh until after a thorough FBI investigation of the allegation is completed.

Schumer, meanwhile, said the committee should not make the same mistakes by rushing through the nomination.

And he noted that despite the fall Supreme Court session beginning in weeks, Republicans delayed by 10 months a hearing on Judge Merrick Garland, nominated by President Barack Obama to replace Justice Antonin Scalia, who died in 2016.

Trump, after the election, chose not to renominate Garland and instead selected Neil Gorsuch to fill the Scalia vacancy.

Kavanaugh was appointed to replace Justice Anthony Kennedy, who announced his retirement in July.

Contact Gary Martin at gmartin@reviewjournal.com or 202-662-7390. Follow @garymartindc on Twitter. The Associated Press contributed to this report.