Democrats serving on the Senate Judiciary Committee reportedly refused to participate in phone calls with Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh and his sexual assault accuser Dr. Christine Blasey Ford on Monday.
In a statement released by the Senate Judiciary Committee, Chairman Chuck Grassley said, “Anyone who comes forward as Dr. Ford has deserves to be heard, so I will continue working on a way to hear her out in an appropriate, precedented and respectful manner.”
He continued, “The standard procedure for updates to any nominee’s background investigation file is to conduct separate follow-up calls with relevant parties. In this case, that would entail phone calls with at least Judge Kavanaugh and Dr. Ford. Consistent with that practice, I asked Senator Feinstein’s office yesterday to join me in scheduling these follow-ups.
“Thus far, they have refused. But as a necessary step in evaluating these claims, I’ll continue working to set them up.”
Later in the day, Grassley announced the committee would be holding public hearings Monday, Sept. 24, during which both Kavanaugh and Ford are slated to appear.
“As I said earlier, anyone who comes forward as Dr. Ford has deserves to be heard. My staff reached out to Dr. Ford to hear her account, and they held a follow-up call with Judge Kavanaugh this afternoon,” said Grassley.
“Unfortunately, committee Democrats have refused to join us in their effort. However, to provide ample transparency, we will hold a public hearing Monday to give these recent allegations a full airing,” he added.
President Donald Trump stated on Monday he wants Ford’s sexual assault allegation against Kavanaugh — stemming from the early 1980s, when the two were in high school — to receive “full process” in the U.S. Senate, but predicted it “will work out very well.”
“I wish the Democrats could have done this a lot sooner because they had this information for many months,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “They shouldn’t have waited until literally the last days. They should have done it a lot sooner.”
Nonetheless, the president said, “We want to go through a full process,” adding, “I have great confidence in the U.S. Senate and in their procedures and what they’re doing.”
Trump conceded a “little delay” might be needed to look into the allegation.
Asked if Kavanaugh should withdraw his name from consideration, the president called the question “ridiculous.”
Originally, a vote by the Judiciary Committee had been slated for this Thursday.
Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., who sits on the committee, told The Washington Post on Sunday, “I’ve made it clear that I’m not comfortable moving ahead with the vote on Thursday if we have not heard her side of the story or explored this further.”
“For me, we can’t vote until we hear more,” he said.
Feinstein, who is the ranking Democratic member on the committee, shared that view.
“I agree with Sen. Flake that we should delay this week’s vote,” she said. “There’s a lot of information we don’t know and the FBI should have the time it needs to investigate this new material.” (For more from the author of “Democrats Refuse to Participate in Phone Call With Kavanaugh” please click HERE)
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