Senate Republicans plan to plow forward with a vote in the Judiciary Committee to recommend Brett Kavanaugh for a lifetime Supreme Court appointment on Friday morning, ignoring Chistine Blasey Ford’s testimony on Thursday that he attempted to rape her in the 1980s.
The GOP leadership has rejected calls for an FBI investigation or testimony from other women who have come forward with their own stories of sexual predation by Kavanaugh. But voices from across the political spectrum are urging the majority to hit the breaks and delay the vote.
They include:
- Four Republican governors: Governors Charlie Baker (R-MA), Larry Hogan (R-MD), John Kasich (R-OH), and Phil Scott (R-VT) have each urged a delay. Hogan said this week of the multiple allegations against Kavanaugh: “It’s very disturbing. It gives me great pause. There are credible charges and big concerns. They need to be heard. They ought to take whatever time it takes to make sure these accusers are heard and he has a chance to respond to them.”
- The American Bar Association: In his furious, unhinged rant during Thursday’s hearing, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) claimed the American Bar Association’s endorsement of Kavanaugh’s qualifications as “the gold standard.” But hours later, the non-partisan legal organization took the highly unusual step of writing to Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Ranking Member Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) urging them to postpone any vote until a full investigation can be conducted. “Each appointment to our nation’s Highest Court (as with all others) is simply too important to rush to a vote,” wrote the group’s president,Robert Carlson. “Deciding to proceed without conducting additional investigation would not only have a lasting impact on the Senate’s reputation, but it will also negatively affect the great trust necessary for the American people to have in the Supreme Court.”
- Alan Dershowitz: Harvard Law professor and Trump loyalist wrote a Fox News op/ed on Thursday, urging a delay. “The Senate Judiciary Committee needs to slow down and postpone its vote on the nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court until the FBI can investigate accusations of sexual misconduct leveled against him by three women,” he wrote. “The accusers and other witnesses should be questioned by the FBI and then be summoned to testify before the Judiciary Committee. All sides have an interest in a full and thorough examination of these serious charges.
- The Dean of the Yale Law School: Kavanaugh received his law degree at Yale Law School. Its current dean, Heather Gerken, released a statement on Friday echoing the ABA’s call for a full investigation. “Proceeding with the confirmation without further investigation is not in the best interest of the Court or our profession,” she wrote.
Every Judiciary Committee Democrat and the America Magazine, the nation’s leading Jesuit magazine which had previously endorsed his confirmation, have called for his nomination to be withdrawn.
UPDATE: This post has been updated to included the comments from Yale Law Dean Heather Gerken.