Progressive Briefing for Friday, September 28

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Women react to Christine Blasey Ford’s testimony

Dr. Christine Blasey Ford appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee Thursday morning to testify against Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh, reliving her traumatic sexual assault before millions of Americans.

Brett Kavanaugh interrupts and shouts at Sen. Dianne Feinstein as she asks why he hasn’t called for an FBI investigation

Sen. Dianne Feinstein has been Republicans’ number one enemy in the debate surrounding the allegations against Judge Brett Kavanaugh throughout his Supreme Court nomination. In his testimony Thursday, he showed that he shares the disdain many in his party have for the California Democrat.

When she questioned him about why he hasn’t asked for an FBI investigation into the allegations against him, as Ford has, Kavanaugh seemed disgusted with the senator, furrowing his brow and while leaning back in his chair.

He didn’t answer the question directly, saying he would do whatever the committee wanted to do and that he wanted to testify immediately after Ford’s allegations became public.

GOP governors call for delaying Kavanaugh vote

Four Republican governors have called for the Senate to take its time with or even forgo a vote on the nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court ahead of a hearing Thursday on Capitol Hill to examine sexual assault allegations against him.

Charlie Baker of Massachusetts, John Kasich of Ohio, Larry Hogan of Maryland and Phil Scott of Vermont are part of a small faction of Republicans who urged caution over three public allegations that have come to light since Kavanaugh’s July 9 nomination, even as the majority of their colleagues in the Senate have argued for pushing through the process.

“The accusations brought against Judge Kavanaugh are sickening and deserve an independent investigation,” Baker said in a tweet as the hearing began. “There should be no vote in the Senate.”

In an open letter, thousands call for Sen. Grassley’s immediate resignation as Judiciary Committee chair

More than 50 groups nationally call for Sen. Chuck Grassley’s (R-Iowa) resignation for his and his staff’s attempt to cover up sexual assault allegations against Brett Kavanaugh. Grassley’s “knowledge of the allegation prior to it becoming public” and his “prepared” defense for the nominee equates to “failed leadership” and injects “partisan politics and misogynistic bullying” into the Judiciary Committee’s leadership, an open letter concludes with the support of hundreds of thousands of Americans.

“The nomination process of a Supreme Court nominee is not about you personally, but it is about whether Americans have confidence in your leadership,” the letter states. “After the events of the past few weeks, we have lost all confidence you can lead the Judiciary Committee without tainting this and any subsequent nomination process with politics. For the good of the country, and for the future of an independent judicial branch free from politics, we urge you to resign as chair of the Committee on Judiciary immediately.”

The letter also shames Grassley for “expeditiously moving through the nomination process with the hope it would never be uncovered.”

With ‘extraordinary’ and ‘remarkable’ request, Bar Association calls on GOP to delay vote, order FBI probe into Kavanaugh

Following the “powerful” testimony of Dr. Christine Blasey Ford and his “unhinged” performance before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday, the American Bar Association – which had previously bestowed the rating of “well-qualified” on the Supreme Court nominee – pulled its support by calling for a delay in his confirmation and a thorough investigation by the FBI into the sexual assault allegations that three women have now publicaly made against him.

“The basic principles that underscore the Senate’s constitutional duty of advice and consent on federal judicial nominees require nothing less than a careful examination of the accusations and facts by the FBI,” wrote Robert Carlson, president of the ABA, the nation’s largest organization of lawyers, in a letter addressed to Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), the committee chair, and Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif), its ranking member.

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