Politics

Top Democrat Warns That Republicans Are Repeating Past Mistakes On Kavanaugh

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Kevin Daley Supreme Court correspondent
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Democratic Sen. Patty Murray of Washington warned Sunday that the GOP is poised to repeat past mistakes, saying that Senate Republicans are arranging the forthcoming hearings on Christine Blasey Ford’s allegations of sexual assault against Judge Brett Kavanaugh in the Supreme Court nominee’s favor.

Speaking to Chuck Todd on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Murray said that without witness testimony or an FBI investigation of Ford’s claims, lawmakers are left with a proverbial “he said, she said” that will inevitably cut in Kavanaugh’s favor.

“Congress failed the test in 1991 with Anita Hill, that they could deal with this kind of allegation,” Murray said. “And they have to be able to deal with this kind of allegation if we are going to be putting people on the highest court in the land.”

“The Senate Republicans have predetermined the outcome,” she added.

Ford named three individuals who were present at the 1982 gathering where Kavanaugh supposedly assaulted her. All three — Mark Judge, Patrick Smith and Leland Ingham Keyser — have submitted statements via counsel to the Senate Judiciary Committee disclaiming knowledge of the events alleged. (RELATED: Kavanaugh Accuser’s Friends Say She’s Discussed Alleged Attack In The Past)

Elsewhere in the interview, Murray told Todd that Kavanaugh may have to be removed from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit if Ford’s accusation is substantiated.

At lease one prominent jurist has left the federal bench in view of credible allegations of sexual misconduct. Judge Alex Kozinski of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals retired in December 2017 after some fifteen women accused him of a range of sexual predations. Kavanaugh clerked from Kozinski after graduating from law school, and his relationship with Kozinski was repeatedly featured in his confirmation hearings.

Attorneys for Ford told the Judiciary Committee that their client is prepared to appear this week, with an eye towards testimony Thursday, though the conditions in which she will testify are not yet clear.

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