Revealed: The veteran female sex crimes prosecutor from Arizona hired by Republicans to question Kavanaugh and his accuser
Rachel Mitchell, who is chief of the special victims division of Maricopa County Attorney, Arizona, has been hired by Republicans to question Christine Ford
Mitchell is a Republican and veteran sex crimes prosecutor described as tough and objective
Republicans want to avoid the appearance of a group of middle-aged and elderly men casting doubt on a woman’s testimony of attempted rape
Orin Hatch, 84, is the oldest Republican member of the panel and was present during the questioning of Anita Hill
DAILYMAIL.COM
26 September 2018
Senate Republicans are bringing in Arizona sex crimes prosecutor Rachel Mitchell to question Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh and his accuser at Thursday’s Senate Judiciary Committee hearing.
Mitchell, a Republican, has been a prosecutor since 1993, and leads the Special Victims Division in the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office in Phoenix – where she would have worked with the county’s controversial sheriff, Joe Arapaio, until he was voted out of office last year.
She supervises attorneys who handle cases involving child molestation, sexual assault and computer crimes against children in Arizona’s most populous county.
Christine Blasey Ford’s allegation that Kavanaugh drunkenly attempted to rape her when they were teenagers has predictably raised a political storm in the #MeToo era, and Mitchell was hired in part due to Republican concerns about the optics of having the all-male GOP members of the committee grilling the female accuser.
Ford’s attorney’s have repeatedly objected to an outside counsel, however, insisting that the senators themselves must conduct the questioning.
Mitchell, who has decades of experience prosecuting sex crimes, ‘has been recognized in the legal community for her experience and objectivity,’ committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, a Republican from Iowa, said in a statement Tuesday.
‘I’m committed to providing a forum to both Dr. Ford and Judge Kavanaugh on Thursday that is safe, comfortable and dignified,’ Grassley said.
Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery, Mitchell’s boss, praised her experience in an interview with the Arizona Republic, calling her an ‘objective prosecutor’ who has a ‘caring heart’ for victims.
He said he was contacted by staff members of the Judiciary Committee over the weekend about Mitchell’s qualifications.
In July 2014, Mitchell prosecuted a former church volunteer in the Phoenix suburb of Scottsdale who molested children in his care as a church baby sitter and camp counselor over a seven-year period. He was sentenced to 30 years in prison with lifetime probation.
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