Judgment Week for the Judge Brett Kavanaugh

By IndraStra Global News Team

By IndraStra Global News Team

Image Attribute: L - Prof. Christine Blasey Ford testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill September 27, 2018, in Washington / Source:  Win McNamee/Getty Images) | R - U.S. Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh testifies before a Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., September 27, 2018. Source: REUTERS/Jim Bourg - RC1DF43B6700

On September 27, 2018, Professor Christine Margaret Blasey Ford testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, who she accused of sexually assaulting her in 1982. Committee also heard Kavanaugh, who forcefully denied the claims.  Currently, Ford is serving as a professor of psychology at Palo Alto University and a research psychologist at the Stanford University School of Medicine.

Video Attribute: Prof. Christine Blasey Ford and Judge Brett Kavanaugh - FULL testimony / Source: CBC News' YouTube Channel

The news that Ford would testify came as the New Yorker reported that another woman came forward with her own story about Kavanaugh’s alleged sexual indiscretions. The claim dates to the 1983-84 academic school year, when Kavanaugh was a freshman at Yale University. Deborah Ramirez, who also attended Yale in 1983, says that Kavanaugh drunkenly thrust his genitals at her while at a party.

American Bar Association's (ABA) president, Robert Carlson wrote a letter to Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and ranking member Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), in which he said the Senate should only vote on Kavanaugh’s confirmation "after an appropriate background check into the allegations made by Professor Blasey and others is completed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation." Also, a leading Catholic journal - America Magazine - backtracked its endorsement of Kavanaugh, himself a Catholic, and called for his nomination to be withdrawn.

On the other hand, President Donald Trump has fiercely defended his pick - "Judge Kavanaugh showed America exactly why I nominated him," the president tweeted just minutes after the close of the hearing.

"His testimony was powerful, honest and riveting," Trump said. 

"Democrats' search and destroy strategy is disgraceful and this process has been a total sham and effort to delay, obstruct and resist. The Senate must vote!"

The Senate Judiciary Committee, which has 11 Republicans and 10 Democrats, is scheduled to vote on Kavanaugh's nomination on Friday (September 28). If approved, it would go to the full Senate, where Republicans hold a slim 51-49 edge. Two GOP defections could sink the nomination, provided the Democratic caucus is united in opposition. Yet there are at least two red-state Democrats – Sens. Joe Donnelly of Indiana and Joe Manchin of West Virginia, both of whom are up for re-election this year – who are reportedly undecided about Kavanaugh.

The committee is scheduled to vote at 9:30 a.m. ET Friday (September 28).

LATEST DEVELOPMENT:

Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination has been approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee. It now heads to the floor. Senator Jeff Flake (R-AZ) voted yes on the grounds that he would get support to request a floor vote delay and a one week FBI investigation. However, Flake has been given NO commitment by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY). If McConnell moves forward without that investigation, Flake will vote against Kavanaugh.

This is a "Developing Story"

With reporting by New Yorker, Reuters, and WikiTribune