Democrats aren’t in any hurry to hear from Christine Ford or Brett Kavanaugh. The longer the controversy continues, the worse things will be for Republicans. If they want, Democrats can squeeze at least another week of wall-to-wall coverage from the controversy.
Ford’s lawyers emailed the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday to inform the majority that she would be prepared to testify so long as the terms are “terms that are fair and which ensure her safety.”
Led by Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, Republicans are eager to get on with the hearings, end what has become a political circus, and exonerate the president’s nominee as quickly and as thoroughly as possible.
Democrats not so much.
It is in their interest to slow the proceedings as much as possible from the proceedings as possible. The longer Kavanaugh stands accused, perhaps the more time suburban housewives will have to think on the accusations – sans evidence – and sour on Republicans ahead of the midterm elections. And it is in their power to slow things down, to at least stop things from starting for another week.
Per committee rules, as Byron York first pointed out, the committee chairman must give seven days advance notice of any hearing “unless the Chairman with the consent of the Ranking Minority Member determines that good cause exists to begin such hearing at an earlier date.”
Clever maneuver from Ford team: Senate Judiciary Committee rules require consent of the minority for chairman to schedule a hearing with less than one week notice. So now, without Dem consent, earliest hearing could be is next Thursday. https://t.co/gqcs3SUI9e pic.twitter.com/aaRw3BE3ZS
— Byron York (@ByronYork) September 20, 2018
The ranking minority member in this case is Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., who waited until the last possible moment to leak Ford’s accusation and to inflict as much political damage as possible on the nominee. Don’t expect her to be in a hurry. Expect Ford to finally testify next Thursday.
