Four Democrats storm out of Brett Kavanaugh hearing in protest as Republicans REFUSE to subpoena nominee’s friend Mark Judge – and crucial SCOTUS vote is hit by more delays
GOP Senator Flake of Arizona said he will vote to confirm the embattled nominee
Sets up a likely 11-10 vote that would get the nominee out of committee
White House still will not say it has the votes to prevail on the floor
‘I left the hearing yesterday with as much doubt as certainty’
Democrats dramatically walked out of the hearing while it was still going on
The Republican-run Judiciary Committee met Friday morning on Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination
Senate GOP majority is setting up a key procedural vote as early as Saturday on Senate floor
Feinstein blasts Kavanaugh testimony as ‘aggressive and belligerent’
Democrats moved to subpoena Kavanaugh friend Mark Judge, an alleged witness
Kavanaugh needs 50 votes from Senate to gain nomination – the Senate has 51 Republicans, 49 Democrats
Remaining holdouts will likely decide fate – Repubs Lisa Murkowski, Susan Collins, and Dem Joe Manchin
Moderate Democrat Doug Jones already revealed Thursday he believed Christine Ford and would vote no
Kavanaugh gave a furious defense on Thursday as he repeatedly complained of his tarnished reputation
Ford gave emotional testimony as she recounted vivid details of the night she said Kavanaugh assaulted her
By GEOFF EARLE
DAILYMAIL.COM
28 September 2018
Angry Senate Democrats stormed out of the Senate Judiciary Committee after the panel met Friday morning to vote out the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh for the Supreme Court hours after hearing sexual assault allegations against him.
The out-voted Democrats abruptly left the hearing after the dramatic late-breaking development that retiring Sen. Jeff Flake would fall in line with other Republicans and vote to move Kavanaugh’s nomination ahead, and after a motion to subpoena testimony from Kavanaugh’s high school friend Mark Judge.
‘I will vote to confirm Judge Kavanaugh,’ Flake said in a brief statement, arguing that ‘fairness and due process’ applied to the apply’ to his situation.
Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal, California Sen. Kamala Harris, Hawaii Sen. Mazie Hirono and Delaware Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse told reporters that they were enraged by the Republicans’ refusal to put the Kavanaugh hearings on hold while the FBI conducts a new investigation into a sexual assault allegation.
The four left a hearing room to hold their own press conference in a hallway, dueling for TV exposure with the hearing.
Republicans, Harris said, were ramming Kavanaugh’s nomination through as an exercise in ‘raw power.’
A committee vote on Kavanaugh’s fate is expected to proceed along party lines at 1:30 p.m.
But the morning hearing gave senators from both sides another chance to stemwind and restate their positions a day after Dr. Christine Ford publicly accused Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her during a high school party in 1982.
Asked how much effort Democrats had put into coordinating their demands for the FBI’s intervention, Hirono laughed. ‘You don’t think that an FBI investigation is at the core of all of this?’
Blumenthal vowed to ‘use every tool available’ to stop Kavanaugh.
Hirono said she hopes the few remaining undecided senators are ‘searching their souls and will do the right thing.’
Flake’s support makes it virtually certain Kavanaugh’s nomination has the votes to clear the committee with a favorable recommendation, as GOP leaders pursue a strategy of advancing the nomination as quickly as possible following a dramatic hearing where the nominee emphatically denied committing sexual assault.
The Rest…HERE
