Following an intense week of salacious claims against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley has scheduled the confirmation vote for Friday morning at 9:30 a.m., following Thursday's planned testimony by both Kavanaugh and accuser, Christine Blasey Ford.
Grassley sends out notice of business meeting for Friday morning, if Judiciary Committee is ready to vote on Kavanaugh then. pic.twitter.com/vjzo4BGs44
— Byron York (@ByronYork) September 25, 2018
Thus far, Kavanaugh has been accused of groping one woman, flashing his penis to another, and participating in a gang-bang operation in college by a yet-to-be named client of attorney Michael Avenatti.
Earlier Tuesday, Chairman Grassley wrote to Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) to "respectfully decline" her request to postpone Thursday's hearing, after assuring to provide Ford with a "safe, comfortable, and dignified opportunity to testify."
"Besides being unfair to Dr. Ford, whose attorneys asked for a public hearing one week ago, delaying the hearing further would be unfair to Judge Kavanaugh and his family. He has asked the Committee repeatedly for the chance to testify as soon as possible. He has categorically denied the allegations that have been made public. He did this in a transcribed interview with several Senate investigators."
Trust Grassley. pic.twitter.com/clqqvmQgvC
— Praying Medic (@prayingmedic) September 25, 2018
Kavanaugh appeared on Fox News Monday night to emphatically deny decades-old sexual misconduct allegations levied at him by several women at the 11th hour - telling host Martha MacCallum that he wasn't "going to let false accusations drive me out of this process…" and also that he was a virgin until after high school.
"I did not have sexual intercourse in high school or for many years thereafter. The girls from the schools I went to and I were friends."
Earlier Tuesday we reported that moderate GOP senator Susan Collins would be the key decider in Kavanaugh's appointment, as several Senate colleagues of Collins' are waiting for her to announce her stance on Kavanaugh before announcing their own positions - while Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer (NY) has asked that centrists within his caucus "keep their powder dry on Kavanaugh" until they know where Republicans stand.
That said, things are looking good for Kavanaugh - as Collins has said that while she will wait until after Thursday's testimony to make her decision, she did not think Kavanaugh would overturn Roe v. Wade.
Collins, a Maine Republican who supports abortion rights, said her discussions with Kavanaugh persuaded her that he believes “the concept of precedent is rooted in Article III of the Constitution, and he clearly reveres our Constitution."
Collins told reporters in Washington that the nominee “also believes that it is not sufficient – since I asked him this directly – for five sitting judges to believe that an earlier decision was incorrectly decided. He said it would have to be grievously wrong and deeply inconsistent." -Bloomberg
archive.fo
zerohedge.com