GOP running for cover

That's pretty specific as to who he DIDN'T talk to.

Trump's speculation about why Ford didn't report her alleged high-school-era assault if it “was as bad as she says" comes just hours after a close Kavanaugh ally sought to implicate another classmate of the nominee and Ford in the attack on her -- a Kavanaugh exoneration theory hotly anticipated by the GOP that landed with a deafening thud.

The one-two punch of Trump and prominent conservative lawyer Ed Whelan's unsuccessful attempts to undercut Ford and boost Kavanaugh leaves the GOP effort to confirm the 53-year-old appeals court judge in fresh peril. It caps a week of roller-coaster talks over whether his 51-year-old accuser, a California-based professor, will testify publicly.

[...]

Republicans said that their party is now more likely to accommodate Ford’s attorney’s requests for testimony next week after the president’s broadside, given the lack of compassion it showed toward an alleged victim. She’s asked for one camera, subpoenas of other witnesses, to not be in the same room as Kavanaugh and to testify after him.

“The issue is that the compassion component Is now turned on its head because you have the president filling the airwaves with something that is not compassionate,” said a plugged-in former Republican leadership aide. “People will go out of their way now to be much more accommodating to unreasonable requests than they were yesterday.”

  Politico

I guess at least it's good they're concerned about the optics. They sure aren't concerned about the justice.

Whelan, president of the right-leaning Ethics and Public Policy Center, had heavily forecast new information about Ford's allegation that emerged as a series of tweets trying to blame another man — who supports Kavanaugh — for the alleged assault.

The Senate GOP had been in touch with Whelan about his theory, and though they were unaware of the details there was some excitement that Kavanaugh's name could be cleared this week. Whelan's attempt backfired spectacularly and he sought to apologize for it on Friday.

"I was very surprised to see it happen the way it did. I thought there was like, you know, a plan," said one Republican aide. "The timing and method of dispersing the information was way past underwhelming."

Republicans had been looking to Whelan as a credible defender of Kavanaugh's, given his central position in defending the president's nominees and advocating for a more conservative court. People working to confirm Kavanaugh said Whelan's credibility is now shot.

They may have been in on the deal with him, but they'll certainly let him hang for it alone.