Critics Question Whether Judge Kavanaugh Has the Character or Temperament for the Supreme Court –

By Glynn Wilson –

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Proving that national politics has become a sensational, ratings busting reality show in the era of President Donald J. Trump, people in the nation’s capital and all over the country and the world watched transfixed on Thursday as one of the most gut wrenching hearings in the history of the United States Senate unfolded live even on broadcast television.

CBS News and the other broadcast networks carried the so-called Kavanaugh hearing gavel to gavel as Dr. Christine Blasey Ford testified under oath in the morning that Brett Kavanaugh, up for a lifetime appointment to the U.S. Supreme Court, sexually assaulted her when she was only 15 and he was a 17-year old prep student in Maryland. She described the sexual assault in as much detail as she could remember, and when pressed, said she was 100 percent sure it was Kavanaugh.

In the afternoon, in an emotionally charged performance clearly designed to please the TV viewer in chief watching in the White House, appeals court Judge Kavanaugh lost his temper on numerous occasions. President Trump had complained about his performance in an unprecedented Fox News interview, calling it bland and boring.

Lashing out at Senators, Kavanaugh showed an angry character that had commentators across the political spectrum wondering what he must be like when drunk. He admitted more than 30 times to drinking beer when he was an underage high school student, but he was defensive and evasive on whether he ever drank so much he forgot what happened. He was also evasive on requesting an FBI investigation.

Immediately after the hearing, after no tweets from Trump for 23 hours, the president said on Twitter: “Judge Kavanaugh showed America exactly why I nominated him. His testimony was powerful, honest, and riveting. Democrats’ search and destroy strategy is disgraceful and this process has been a total sham and effort to delay, obstruct, and resist. The Senate must vote!”

There was no mention of the woman.

Senator Lindsay Graham of South Carolina also put on a show for Trump, bursting into a rage and calling the Democrats on the committee “unethical.” Clearly he has ambitions to be Trump’s pick for Attorney General to replace Alabama’s Jeff Sessions after the midterm elections in November.

As of Friday morning, the Senate Judiciary Committee was still scheduled to vote to move the nomination to the Senate floor, where key swing votes on the Republican side could derail the nomination.

The spotlight was on Republican Senator Jeff Flake of Arizona, who is not up for reelection, since he announced he would not run this year, fearing retribution from Trump — who he criticized — and the political right. Flake was appalled at how Trump treated the other Senator from Arizona at the time, John McCain, so there is no reason for him to stand with Trump in the vote. Although according to breaking news, Flake has said he will vote to confirm Kavanaugh at least on the Judiciary Committee. He could be thinking strategically like his senior Senator from Arizona. McCain voted in committee to move forward the Republican plan last summer to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. But he flew back to Washington just in time to vote thumbs down on the Senate floor, casting the deciding vote and dealing a death blow to Republican plans to roll back Obamacare.

The Republicans would still hold a majority of 11-10 with Vice President Mike Pence breaking the tie in case of another Republican defection. Even if another Republican on the Judiciary Committee were to vote no, Kavanaugh’s nomination could still move to the full Senate floor, where the votes of Alaska’s Lisa Murkowski and Maine’s Susan Collins, who remain undecided, would be critical, along with some red state Democrats like Senator Doug Jones of Alabama.

After I exchanged texts with Senator Jones late Thursday night, he issued a statement by email and on Twitter saying he would vote “no” on the nomination.

“The Kavanaugh nomination process has been flawed from the beginning and incomplete at the end,” Senator Jones said in a statement. “Dr. Ford was credible and courageous and I am concerned about the message our vote will be sending to our sons and daughters, as well as victims of sexual assault. I will be voting no.”

On Twitter, Jones said: “What message will we send to our daughters & sons, let alone sexual assault victims? The message I will send is this — I vote no. #RightSideofHistory”

Previous coverage: Senator Doug Jones Calls for FBI Investigation in Sexual Assault Allegations Against Trump Supreme Court Nominee Brett Kavanaugh

Senator Joe Manchin, the Democrat from West Virginia, huddled with Collins, Flake and Murkowski in a private office in the Capitol building after the hearing. He is also undecided and could cast a key vote against Kavanaugh, along with Joe Donnelly of Indiana and Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky along with President Trump were still pushing for a vote on Friday.

“The committee’s going to vote in the morning, and we’re going to move forward,” McConnell insisted.

But overnight, the American Bar Association, which had rated Kavanaugh “well-qualified” for the Supreme Court, called on the Judiciary Committee to halt the confirmation vote, saying it should not move forward until an FBI investigation into the sexual assault allegations can be completed.

The committee did not investigate the allegations of Deborah Ramirez, a classmate of Kavanaugh’s at Yale University, who told the New Yorker magazine that Kavanaugh exposed himself to her at a party when they were both first-year students. Or those of Julie Swetnick, a Washington resident, who said in a declaration that Kavanaugh was physically abusive toward girls in high school and present at a house party in 1982 where she says she was the victim of a “gang rape.” She is being represented by Michael Avenatti, whose clients also include Stormy Daniels, the adult-film actress who was paid to remain silent about an alleged decade-old affair with Mr. Trump.

Kavanaugh denied those allegations, calling them a “joke” and a “farce.” Women and many men across the country were not laughing.

Commentators, including other Senators, came away from the hearing saying Dr. Ford’s testimony was credible while questioning whether Kavanaugh had the character or the temperament to sit on the highest court in the land.

As this story was being composed, the Senate Judiciary Committee was moving to ram Kavanaugh’s nomination through the committee over objections of the Democrats, who tried to put forward a motion to subpoena Kavanaugh’s friend Mark Judge, who was a witness to the alleged sexual assault. The motion failed 11-10.

BREAKING NEWS UPDATE: Republican Senator Jeff Flake of Arizona just announced he would not vote to confirm the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court unless the full Senate delays the vote and gives the FBI one week to investigate the charges. The Judiciary Committee went ahead and voted to confirm Kavanaugh and send his nomination to the full Senate for a vote.