The Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to have an executive meeting Friday morning to discuss the Supreme Court nomination of Brett Kavanaugh, and to possibly hold a vote on his confirmation. The meeting is set for 9:30 a.m. Eastern Time. Watch live in the player above.
This comes after Thursday’s emotional hearing, where Christine Blasey Ford delivered powerful testimony, discussing how Kavanaugh allegedly attacked and tried to sexually assault her in the early 1980s, when they and several other high school students were at a gathering at someone’s house. Democrats and Republicans alike reportedly commented that she appeared credible.
Kavanaugh then testified, answering questions after delivering a statement that ranged from angry, to solemn, to tearful. The nominee continued to deny the allegations against him, and lashed out at the Senate over the attacks that he faced, while maintaining that he has no ill will towards Ford. Kavanaugh said he does believe she was assaulted, but not by him.
Democrats continued to call for any confirmation vote to be delayed, and for the FBI to investigate the allegations against Kavanaugh. This was echoed in a letter from American Bar Association president Robert Carlson, who called for an investigation in a letter to Committee leaders. Republicans, including Committee Chairman Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), said that’s not how things are done, and that FBI investigations of Supreme Court nominees merely relay information about what people say, without going into the merits of the statements.
Grassley echoed, and at times directly quoted similar language from former Committee chair and ex-Vice President Joe Biden (D-Delaware). Biden said during a similar situation involving current Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas that anyone calling for FBI investigation don’t understand what they are.
“The next person who refers to an FBI report as being worth anything obviously doesn’t understand anything,” Biden said in 1991. “FBI explicitly does not, in this case or any other case, reach a conclusion, period.”
[Image via BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images]
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