Senate Judiciary Committee approves Kavanaugh
WASHINGTON – The Senate Judiciary Committee on Friday afternoon approved the Supreme Court nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh.
The committee voted 11-10 to send the nomination to the floor.
All Republicans voted yes. All Democrats voted no.
The announcement by Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) Friday morning that he would support Kavanaugh was seen to have negated the chances of the committee not issuing a favorable report.
However, Flake asked senators on the committee to support a one-week delay in the floor vote so that the FBI can investigate allegations of sexual misconduct against Kavanaugh.
“This country is being ripped apart here. We got to make sure we do due diligence, ” he said.
Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) told Flake he would have to defer to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) for such a decision.
The Senate is scheduled to debate the nomination throughout the weekend. A final vote is planned for Tuesday.
California psychology professor Christine Blasey Ford told the committee Thursday that she is “one hundred percent” sure Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her at a high school party in the 1980s.
“Brett groped me and tried to take off my clothes. He had a hard time because he was so drunk, and because I was wearing a one-piece bathing suit under my clothes. I believed he was going to rape me. I tried to yell for help. When I did, Brett put his hand over my mouth to stop me from screaming,” Ford testified.
Later in the day, Kavanaugh told the committee that the allegation is false.
“That’s not who I am. It is not who I was. I am innocent of this charge,” he testified.
A visibly angry Kavanaugh lambasted the committee, saying: “This confirmation process has become a national disgrace.”
Kavanaugh is accused of misconduct by two other women. He has denied those allegations as well.
This article is republished with permission from Talk Media News
Bryan is an award-winning political journalist who has extensive experience covering Congress and Maryland state government.
His work includes coverage of the election of Donald Trump, the confirmation hearings of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh and attorneys general William Barr and Jeff Sessions-as well as that of the Maryland General Assembly, Gov. Larry Hogan, and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Bryan has broken stories involving athletic and sexual assault scandals with the Baltimore Post-Examiner.
His original UMBC investigation gained international attention, was featured in People Magazine and he was interviewed by ABC’s “Good Morning America” and local radio stations. Bryan broke subsequent stories documenting UMBC’s omission of a sexual assault on their daily crime log and a federal investigation related to the university’s handling of an alleged sexual assault.