Senate Judiciary Democrats' Answers Don’t Add Up to Fairness But Delay

Led by Senate Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Dianne Feinstein, Democrats seem not to be interested in getting to the truth of the accusations by Christine Blasey Ford but rather in delaying the confirmation of Judge Brett Kavanaugh.  Let’s briefly analyze a few of Democrats' demands.

Accusation   “Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee who was first informed of Ford's accusation in July when the woman requested anonymity, denounced Republicans' efforts to limit the hearing to two witnesses.”

Reality:  Ranking Member Dianne Feinstein had the opportunity to select more than a dozen witnesses the last day of the scheduled Kavanaugh hearing.  She selected John Dean as the lead witness and did not even mention this matter.  “Dean is among more than a dozen witnesses selected by Democrats on the Judiciary Committee. The former White House counsel 'will speak about the abuse of executive power' during his appearance, according to Sen. Dianne Feinstein (Calif.), the top Democrat on the panel."

Accusation:  Democrats have demanded the FBI open a seventh background investigation into Kavanaugh: “Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and other Democrats have called for the FBI to reopen its background check of Kavanaugh to examine Ford’s allegation and interview any possible witnesses."

Reality:  FBI has no role in this kind of accusation.  "The Justice Department says the sexual assault allegation against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh 'does not involve any potential federal crime' for the FBI to investigate.  The department said in a statement Monday night that the FBI’s role during background investigations is to evaluate whether the nominee could pose a national security risk and then provide that information 'for the use of the decision makers.'  The department says it’s not the job of the FBI to judge the significance or the credibility of an accusation."

Grassley added: "'The FBI investigation of Judge Kavanaugh is closed,' he said. 'The FBI is not doing any further investigation.'"

Accusation: Feinstein “accused Republicans of trying to ‘rush this nomination' and not fully vet Kavanaugh, a federal appeals court judge.”

Reality:  Senator Feinstein and her staff have refused to work to move the hearings forward.  As Chairman Grassley states: "My staff has reached out to Dr. Ford to hear her account, and they held a follow-up call with Judge Kavanaugh this afternoon.  Unfortunately, committee Democrats have refused to join us in this effort.  However, to provide ample transparency, we will hold a public hearing Monday to give these recent allegations a full airing."

The reality is Democrats want to delay the confirmation of ANY one to the vacant Supreme Court seat.  As Judiciary Committee Member Democrat Senator Mazie Hirono states: If President Trump does not nominate a moderate, then he should “prepare for Senate Democrats—especially if they win a majority in November’s elections—to keep the court seat vacant until after the 2020 election.  'I think we’ve had those kinds of vacancies before, and we certainly had over a one-year vacancy with Merrick Garland,' said Hirono. 'So the world does not come to an end because we don’t fill all of the nominees.'"

If the Democrats are interested in the truth, they will work with Republicans on the hearing.  Right now it seems their purpose is delay past the 2018 elections and maybe even 2020.  That is not fair to Judge Kavanagh or the American people.