Sen. Dianne Feinstein urged senators to consider Thursday’s hearing with Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh as a “job interview,” and to consider whether there are better nominees who might be put forward in light of the sexual assault accusations against him.
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“Is he the best we can do?” asked Feinstein, D-Calif., at the start of the hearing.
Feinstein said Republicans are not taking seriously the string of accusations against Kavanaugh, none of which have been corroborated by first-hand witnesses.
She accused Republicans of labeling the accusations as a “hiccup,” which she said demonstrates an “unwillingness to take these kind allegations at face value and look at them for what they are — [a] real question of character for someone who is asking for a lifetime appointment to the Supreme Court.”
Feinstein thanked Christine Blasey Ford for attending the hearing and said she’d kept her July 30 letter a secret when she received it because Ford had initially asked for confidentiality.
“I am very grateful to you for your strength and and bravery in coming foward,” Feinstein said. “I know it’s hard.”
Feinstein cited accounts in media reports of former classmates and acquaintances who remembered Kavanaugh as a heavy drinker, contradicting his own suggestion that he was not.
Feinstein also said the Senate should call for an FBI investigation into Kavanaugh and the new allegations, something the GOP has denied.
“This would clearly be the best way to ensure a fair process to both Judge Kavanaugh and Dr. Ford,” Feinstein said.
