Christine Ford/Brett Kavanaugh Senate testimony live thread - Polidicks

Apparently Chris Coons (D) and Jeff Flake are old friends and spent the 90 minutes in a backroom with Coons basically trying to talk some sense into Flake. Flake then called Rod Rosenstein, I guess to try and figure out what the FBI would be able to do. Then he came back in and announced the one-week pause demand I'm pretty sure Coons also implies in this that he's spoken with Collins, Murkowski, and Manchin as well. And it does seem like the elevator protest made a difference. https://twitter.com/alanhe/status/1045830251358629888

Okay I have kind of a dumb question... I never realized the FBI investigating something could be up for debate. I guess I had always thought of as... Automatic? I guess I'm learning I have no idea what the FBI is because to me it sounds like if people accused me of murder and the police asked me if I supported them investigating my crimes. Why are you even asking? Isn't that just what you do when its seems like I might have done it?

Huge cultural changes that we can see are changing massively in the last 10 years anita hill went through this 20 year ago, and it was just as broken. No one needs a crystal ball to see what’s plain as fucking day

I heard someone explain it best: "FBI investigations are for poor people; otherwise they're an attack by the opposition party."

That's incredibly stupid, the FBI is not wielded like a baseball bat and do the majority of the footwork when assholes are ripping people off but it takes time and its not glorious. I mean for fucks's sake, they've been hitting both sides this entire year with fraud and laundering money scandals.

They're not talking about a normal FBI criminal investigation - sexual assault would usually be handled by local police anyway, not the FBI. This is about the FBI's role in doing background checks on Supreme Court nominees, which is a special thing they do at the request of the executive branch

Bret leaps in to defend his fellow Brett. Regardless of the sexual assault stuff Kavanaugh's Testimony to congress was bad and he should not be confirmed https://twitter.com/SenSanders/status/1046085712372813824

The way people are crucifying him based on their gut feeling is disturbing. Remember that he is only accused.

When a man takes an oath to not lie in their testimony, goes into a conspiracy-fueled rage-rant, and then proceeds to lie about anything and everything while accusing others of poor conduct -- that person has lost much of their credibility. He may be only accused -- but he is acting exactly as someone would if they were guilty. Even if he isn't guilty, lying about provable things is beyond a 'bad look' - it calls into question whether any statements he makes are trustworthy.

Please explain how all the evidence that has been shown is "Gut feeling"

Also did he remember investigating Bill Clinton while going off on that Clinton conspiracy? Might be improper for a judge to say that stuff. Plus Bill was disbarred for lying to Congress

Consider that he isn't guilty of this. Having your name be dragged through the dirt and the various ways it affects him would piss anyone off. Then I can't disregard the possibility that he is being politically smeared as just his conspiracy theories. Obviously democrats will want him to withdraw and republicans will want him to continue or delay. But in a case with accusations only the first is more likely to be a cynical power move, imo. Not sure about the lies. I didn't pick that up in his speech or don't know the story.

Consider that this isn't about guilt but about whether he deserves to be appointed as a Supreme Court Judge. Those who it would piss off to the point that they would violate the Canon do not deserve to be Judges.

Lol can you please give me some examples of evidence for a 30 year old crime besides he said she said.

Here's a one day old crime: He lied under oath about Ford's witnesses stating that they 'all deny it ever happened'.

My concern now is that nothing the FBI comes back with will be enough. They're pretty unlikely to come back and say they've conclusively proven it's all true. They could come back with some pretty damning stuff though but the GOP won't give a shit

Here ya go, read this Twitter thread. https://twitter.com/SenSanders/status/1046085712372813824

I suppose you are technically correct that not remembering or not disputing is not equal to denying. But man this shit is why people sometimes refuse to speak during questioning. My fear is that such accusations become frequently used as a political move and then people are removed because of it or investigation creep.

He is a Judge. He knows better.

And what isn't "petty stuff" is deliberately lying under oath to Congress. That should be massively disqualifying for any judicial seat much less the SCOTUS, never mind if he raped women in school.

We give federal court seats lifetime appointments because the Constitution says they serve "during good behavior" well Kav's inevitability shows Republicans don't care.

I don't think Kavanaugh is good enough for the confirmation but I'm not 100% ready to say he is guilty of the act he is accused of. I think so far Dr.Ford has presented some pretty damning information. For me it's the fact that there's suggestions that she had raised the issue long before this in 2012 with her psychiatrist. Also that she brought it up before Kavanaugh was chosen. Suggesting that if this was a liberal conspiracy, they sure picked the right guy to pin it on. Additionally the reports that she dated or at least was good friends with one of the Boys Kavanaugh liked to crack cold ones with despite him claiming he never met her is suspicious. I'd like to hear from Kavanaughs old drinking buddies including Judge and this Squi guy. I'd also like to know more information about the incident itself, at least a more specific timeline. I can't expect her to remember exactly where or when it happened. Hell I can't tell you exactly where some house parties took place just a year ago. It seems like Republicans are scared that the Democrats are going to stall this thing till elections so they can take back power and control the vote. But, if they keep stalling, couldn't the Republicans just say fuck it and confirm him regardless? Or quickly nominate and confirm someone else? You'd think at some point just getting another (R) in the SCOTUS would be more important to the Republicans than getting Kavanaugh in there specifically.

Kav is special because he thinks Presidents should be immune to investigations like Mueller's while in office, Chuck Schumer called his views on the executive branch "almost monarchical".

Sorry, but we demand that someone who's sitting on the supreme court be a little less biased and a little more emotionally stable than Kavanaugh. He's not fit for the bench in any capacity, much less this specific capacity. Even the Bar Association feels that way, as they strongly advised that the investigation be done and the confirmation vote be delayed.

If they do so before this investigation concludes, McConnell absolutely, at any time, could bring his appointment to the Senate Floor and call a vote on it. The trouble is that they simply don't have the votes to pass him as a Supreme Court Judge while this investigation is not concluded. If the investigation brings up further, even more alarming, information -- all bets are off and it's unclear whether or not those who have withheld to ensure there is an investigation are doing so merely to cover their asses -- or if they're legitimately concerned that he may be compromised and, later, impeached -- which would be absolutely devastating to the GOP if the Midterms do not go their way.

But didn't the alleged witnesses Dr.Ford claimed to have been at the party say it (the party) never happened? Isn't that the same as denying it happened?

https://www.axios.com/kavanaugh-vote-2018-midterms-poll-3db8f6c6-c637-41a8-bbc5-a27bbad3abc3.html After the hearings, 51% of people said they are less likely re-elect their senators. And people found Dr. Christine Blasey Ford more believable (50%) and credible (48%) than Kavanaugh (44% for both.) 50% of people said they will view the Supreme Court as less credible if the Senate confirms Kavanaugh. Propping up an insane orange just to play yourself out of office.

No, that's what's being spread about which is a gross mischaracterization of what they said. What they said is that they don't recall anything like that happened. They didn't say 'that never happened' or 'it didn't happen' or 'I can't imagine that could've ever happened'. It's absolutely not the same as denying it happened -- it's them stating they have no opinion to offer on the subject one way or the other.

Even if they fail to prove he assaulted her in the early 80s, he ought to be disbarred for how he acted before the Senate as it is.

Ok. There's nothing wrong with high standards and various posts convinced me that he hasn't demonstrated good conduct. Unfortunately I have no hope that every republican won't become a rapist from now on. I'm just saying half of what Bernie's intern wrote is grasping at straws. Especially point 10 is hilarious.