Kavanaugh's opening statements are given with forced indignation and anger. Good boy! For some reason, he informed us that he wrote this statement all by himself. And his wife, sitting behind him, but to the side so the cameras would see her, was choking back tears. What an inspiring sight. How can you doubt him?Expect to see a different Brett Kavanaugh than the robotic figure we saw on Fox News earlier in the week. A lot has changed since then.
[...]
President Trump and Vice President Mike Pence have both phoned Judge Kavanaugh to voice their support for him ahead of today's hearing.
Trump had a message for Kavanaugh when they spoke, per someone familiar with the call: Be aggressive and forceful in your denials. Don't be afraid to push back on these allegations, Trump said.
Will the belligerent style Trump has employed to refute similar allegations work for Kavanaugh today? Stay tuned.
CNN
And then, he switched from anger to appearing to be ready to bawl, himself. Not a good look at all. Now, you'll not only be getting a consummate liar and financial fuck-up on the Supreme Court, but also a crybaby. A 45-minute speech. I didn't listen to that, but ABC's George Stephanopolous says he "teared up" when he told them that his family bears no ill will toward Dr. Ford, and even his 10-year-old daughter asked that the family pray for her. Oh, Jesus. Eye-roll.
OK, now they're on to the questioning. I'm watching: Below the fold, I'm commenting.
h/t to Aaron Rupar for providing video clips, some of which I've linked below within the comments.
FEINSTEIN questioning:
DiFi asks why he wouldn't ask the FBI to investigate. He says he'll do whatever the committee wants. And that goes angry saying he wanted a hearing the next day. She says the committee is not in a position to prove or disprove and has to depend on outside investigation. He says the FBI wouldn't reach a conclusion and cries some more about not being able to defend himself the next day. DiFi, who has been very subdued and respectful in her quiet questioning, says the meetings are set by the majority. Kavanaugh is already pissed. And this is only his first Democrat questioner. Should be fun if this goes on for four hours like Dr. Ford's hearing did.
She also responded to his claim that Mark Judge vouched for him in a written statement by saying they needed to be able to talk to Judge about that statement. He didn't have an answer for that.
Kavanaugh: This Swetnick thing is a joke. It's a farce (She didn't ask him about that.)
DiFi: Would you like to say more about it?
Kavanaugh: No.
The hired questioner -RACHEL MITCHELL - takes the place of Republican Senators. I think this is going to be their worst mistake. They did it to avoid the optics of old white men badgering Dr. Ford, but that forced them to have to use her for Kavanaugh's hearing, too.
He says he never blacked out. He's "gone to sleep."
This is a different man than on Fox News.
Kavanaugh asks for a break.
The first thing the lawyers all seem to tell their clients on the stand (and I know, this is not a court trial) is, just answer the questions; don't offer any extra information. She didn't ask him to describe Judge. But "funny guy, great writer" took me by surprise given all the information coming out in the news about Judge's writings that describe wild days at Georgetown Prep.
They're baaaaaaaaack.
LEAHY questioning:
L: Would you want Judge called as a witness?
K: He's already given a statement....blah, blah, blah
Leahy tries again. Kavanaugh is immediately getting angry.
L: Is 'Bart O'Kavanaugh' in Mark Judge's book you?
K: Blah, blah, blah, characters in his book. We can sit here and make fun of some guy who has an addiction, blah, blah, blah. Leahy only asked a simple question. Nobody was making fun of anybody. But obviously, Kavanuagh's tactic is to act indignant and angry that anyone is questioning his character.
L: I'm trying to get a straight answer. (About Bart O'Kavanaugh.)
K: You'd have to ask him.
L: I agree with you. I wish the chairman had him here under oath.
Kavanaugh shouts over Leahy's question and does exactly what we thought he would do. He wastes Leahy's time by giving a laundry list of how good he was in high school. And Grassley is interrupting to back up Kavanaugh.
L: Well, we got a filibuster, but not a single answer.
Bingo. As I said in an earlier post, that's the way this whole thing is going to go.
MITCHELL:
She asks straightforward questions about the entries on his 1982 calendar. Funnily enough, he answers her yes or no questions with a yes or no. Something he's not willing to do for the Democrats.
DURBIN:
My connection is cutting out.
D: In your opening statement, you said you'd be willing to submit to ANY investigation, including the FBI. I've got a suggestion for you. Turn to your left and ask Don McGahn to stop this investigation right now until we get an FBI investigation.
Grassley jumps in: Stop the clock! This committee is running this hearing! Not the White House! Not Don McGahn! Not even you as a nominee!
Grassley will not allow Kavanaugh to respond to Durbin.
Durbin repeats. Kavanaugh just keeps saying he's innocent. As Durbin and Kavanaugh argues, Grassley groans in the background to Durbin's remarks and questions, encouraging Kavanaugh to interrupt his own remarks and switch track.
Damn! My connection cut out again.
Grassley says, if you want to ask for an FBI investigation, you can ask for it yourself. Really? Isn't it Grassley that has to request it? Isn't that the whole thing. Lindsey Graham jumps in. He's shouting: He's shouting at the Democrats: If you wanted an FBI investigation, you could have asked for it! Boy, you all want power! I hope you never get it! I hate to say this, because these have been my friends! You're looking for a fair process? You came to the wrong town!
You're just gonna have to watch a clip of Graham to believe this.
I think he's giving Kavanaugh a model of how he's supposed to be acting. Kavanaugh gets a nose-up smug look while Graham is going on and on and on. Unbelievable.
WHITEHOUSE: Should we let things settle a little after that?
Grassley says they can take a break. Whitehouse says, no, he's good.
W: What's the Renate alumnus reference in your yearbook.
K: She was our friend. To have her name dragged through this hearing.
Good: Whitehouse asks how to play "devil's triangle". But then he drops it. Kavanaugh says, "Have you ever played quarters?" Whitehouse says no. Kavanaugh repeats, "Quarters." I need a better explanation.
I guess they're not actually going to let only Mitchell ask questions, but now they've gone to John Cornyn. It seems they decided Kavanaugh was going to trip himself up, so they're stepping in to help. Cornyn tells him he's right to be angry. And repeats the line that even the New York Times wouldn't print Ramirez' story. (She was already talking to another outlet, and so she wouldn't talk to the Times when they asked.)
Kavanaugh says he's not ever going to get his reputation back. Cornyn asks no questions, but gives a speech. As expected.
UPDATE*
KLOBUCHAR: Why don't you just ask the president. Dr. Ford can't do this. We haven't been able to do this. Just ask the president to have the FBI reopen the investigation.
Kav: You're doing the investigation.
Klo: We have things we can't do.
Kav: Mark Judge gave his statement.
Klo: We'd like to open this up. George Bush opened up the FBI investigation in the Anita Hill case. Was that reasonable?
Kav: I'm here to answer questions about my yearbook or sports or...
Klo: I'm not going to ask about the yearbook. You've said you never drank so much you didn't remember what happened. Your roommate and another classmate say differently.
Kavanaugh goes into some story and filibusters.
Kavanaugh asks her if she's ever had so much to drink she couldn't remember. She just stares at him like, "You've got to be kidding me." And then he beligerently repeated it. That was the end of her time. He pulled that on someone earlier - Durbin, I think - and the questioner just kept asking questions as if Kavanaugh didn't say it.
Grassley jumps in again with more shit and reminds people of what Joe Biden said in the Anita Hill case: the FBI doesn't reach any conclusion. This is what Kavanaugh keeps saying. This is irrelevant.
Whitehouse corrects Grassley saying they never asked for an FBI investigation. He says it's not the conclusion that's important from the FBI, it's the information that they get. Grassley calls for a break.
Jesus, this thing is worse than I imagined it would be.
Kavanaugh begins after the break by apologizing to Klobuchar.
Hatch is now given his speech of praise of Kavanaugh and complaint about the Democrats and the claims against Kavanaugh. Yep, they ditched the hired prosecutor who was simply there asking Kavanaugh questions. They have no confidence that he can answer plausibly and save himself. And they're right. He's pathetic.
COONS: Sometimes I have found your answers evasive or not credible, and that's what I'm after here. Have you ever been aggressive when drinking?
K: What are you talking about? I don't know what you mean.
C: Do you remember Liz Swisher, a college classmate from Yale?
K: Blah, blah, other people...
C: Liz Swisher. She says she drank with Kavanaugh and knows that he drank more than he says. "Brett was a sloppy drunk."
K: That's not a fair characterization.
C: Another classmate said you were an aggressive drunk.
K: That was a freshman classmate and he had an issue with a third person.
C: Wouldn't you conduct a thorough investigation if you were in our place? Why not allow a week for the FBI to investigate and get the other people before us.
K: All four witnesses said the event didn't happen, including Ford's long time friend.
C: My concern is what this will do to the credibility of the court and how this will hang over your head if we go forward.
K: You say a week delay. Do you know how long the last 10 weeks have been for me? It's been investigated. All four witnesses say it didn't happen. I've produced a calendar.
Grassley jumps in again. Jesus fuck.
Republican Lee's turn. Giving the same Republican cover spiel. This is not anything like the Ford hearing where she was asked questions for four hours. Kavanaugh gets five minutes of questions and then five minutes of cover. (Lee looks way too much like Joe McCarthy.) He repeats the same Joe Biden quote that Grassley quoted.
BLUMENTHAL: When asked, Kavanaugh doesn't know what a Latin jury instruction means! Instead of answering, he says, "You can answer that, you can do it better than I can." Jesus Christ!
Blumenthal did, but he should have pressed by saying, "You don't know?"
Kavanaugh is arguing and acting indignant that Blumenthal brings up Renate again.
Regarding Judge's statement: It's a statement by his lawyer, not a sworn statement.
Your opening statement said this whole thing is a Clinton revenge play. Is that your testimony about Dr. Ford's testimony? (Gee, anybody think Kavanaugh is partisan?)
Kavanaugh is filibustering about a trip to Fenway Park.
Grassley interrupts again. Tells Blumenthal to hurry up and ask his question then tells Kavanaugh, okay now you take your time answering.
Now another Republican asking Kavanaugh to repeat the claim that the FBI doesn't come to conclusions. They're really trying to make out that an FBI investigation wouldn't be any help. And then on to more cover.
HIRONO: Ford said she was 100% certain it was you. You said in your opening statement that the Democrats were an embarrassment in your previous hearing. (So Kavanaugh won't be partisan, eh?)
Credibility, character and candor, temperament - are those appropriate for us to consider?
K: Yes, and I'm wonderful. People have said. (I'm paraphrasing here.)
H: You said you always treated women with dignity and respect. Statements from people in college said otherwise. Are they lying?
K: They had other issues. I was a great guy and I worked my ass off. I played basketball and I studied every night.
H: So your roommate was lying.
K: I worked very hard in college. And I also played basketball.
Next Republican up with same Republican tactic, telling Kavanaugh he's being treated unfairly. Giving Kavanaugh a break.
BOOKER: "Skis" means brewskis?
K. Won't answer
B: You said you never had gaps in memories. You said this past 2 weeks has been calculated as a hit. Are you saying Ford was in an orchestrated hit?
K: We have no ill will toward her.
Booker interrupts. Kavanaugh's lips get really tight. He looks like he hates Booker.
B: Do you wish she'd been silent even in the final days of the vote? Are you questioning her sense of civic duty?
Kavanaugh won't answer straight out.
B: Do you think people who believe Dr. Ford are engaging in something despicable, like Graham (whom I respect).
No answer, of course. Just blah, blah, witnesses say it didn't happen, and tight lips.
Ted Cruz is up, and by dinky I simply cannot listen to him. Or look at him.
FEINSTEIN: I did not hide Dr. Ford's letter. Her greatest fears were realized. The majority did not notify me of the people they reached out to, so to argue that we wouldn't participate is disingenuous.
Cornyn says he trusts DiFi, but do you know if your staff leaked the letter? She says the staff says no.
Now they're all arguing about how the letter might have gotten leaked.
Grassley gives Kavanaugh time to say how this has affected his family. Kavanaugh says he already addressed that. He did in his opening statement at length. Is Grassley senile?
Oh, yeah. That.
HARRIS: You know that the FBI is an agency of men and women who are sworn and trained law enforcement. Are you willing to ask the White House to conduct an FBI investigation?
K: I'll do whatever the committee wants.
H: Are you willing to ask the White House for an FBI investigation?
K: The FBI wouldn't reach a conclusion.
H: I don't want to debate that. Are you willing to ask the White House for an FBI investigation?
K: I've had six background investigations.
H: I'm going to take that as a no.
She now brings up Gorsuch and the many comparisons between him and Kavanaugh. The only difference is that you've been accused of sexual assault. How do you reconcile your statement that this is a set up?
K: Look at my statement.
H: Did you watch Ford's testimony?
K: No.
Last up: Republican Kennedy. Jesus fucking Christ.
Ken: Do you believe in God? I'm going to give you a chance before God and the country: Look me in the eye: Are Dr. Ford's allegations true?
Kav: Not as to me.
Ken: Do you swear to God?
Kav: I swear to God.
Okay, good enough for me.
This went exactly as I predicted.
UPDATE:
*UPDATE:
At least they're honest about it.
UPDATE:
No comments:
Post a Comment