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Chuck Schumer calls on supreme court nominee Brett Kavanaugh to withdraw Chuck Schumer calls on supreme court nominee Brett Kavanaugh to withdraw
(35 minutes later)
Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer has called on US supreme court nominee Brett Kavanaugh to withdraw in light of the multiple sexual misconduct allegations against him, and said if he does not, an FBI investigation is needed before any Senate vote. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer and has called on US supreme court nominee Brett Kavanaugh to withdraw in light of the multiple sexual misconduct allegations against him, and said if he does not, an FBI investigation is needed before any Senate vote.
“I strongly believe Judge Kavanaugh should withdraw from consideration. If he will not, at the very least, the hearing and vote should be postponed while the FBI investigates all of these allegations,” Schumer said in a statement.“I strongly believe Judge Kavanaugh should withdraw from consideration. If he will not, at the very least, the hearing and vote should be postponed while the FBI investigates all of these allegations,” Schumer said in a statement.
“If our Republican colleagues proceed without an investigation, it would be a travesty for the honor of the supreme court and our country.”“If our Republican colleagues proceed without an investigation, it would be a travesty for the honor of the supreme court and our country.”
Schumer’s statement was released shortly after a third woman went public with allegations of sexual misconduct against Kavanaugh. In a sworn declaration released through her lawyer, Julie Swetnick says she witnessed efforts by Kavanaugh and others “to cause girls to become inebriated … so they could then be gang-raped”.Schumer’s statement was released shortly after a third woman went public with allegations of sexual misconduct against Kavanaugh. In a sworn declaration released through her lawyer, Julie Swetnick says she witnessed efforts by Kavanaugh and others “to cause girls to become inebriated … so they could then be gang-raped”.
“This is ridiculous and from the Twilight Zone. I don’t know who this is and this never happened,” the White House said in a statement from Kavanaugh.“This is ridiculous and from the Twilight Zone. I don’t know who this is and this never happened,” the White House said in a statement from Kavanaugh.
Kavanaugh will acknowledge drinking in high school with his friends in sworn testimony to a Senate hearing, but says he’s never done anything “remotely resembling” the sexual misconduct alleged by his chief accuser, Christine Blasey Ford, who was the first woman to come forward earlier this month. Following the fresh allegations, the 10 Democrats on the judicial committee sent a letter to Trump imploring him to withdraw the judge’s nomination.
In testimony published on the eve of Thursday’s hearing, Kavanaugh denies having a “sexual or physical encounter of any kind” with Ford, who will also appear at the Senate judiciary committee hearing. “Judge Kavanaugh is being considered for a promotion. He is asking for a lifetime appointment to the nation’s highest court where he will have the opportunity to rule on matters that will impact Americans for decades,” the letter said.
“I am innocent of this charge,” Kavanaugh says. In written testimony released Wednesday by the committee, Kavanaugh says he has “never sexually assaulted anyone not in high school, not in college, not ever”. “The standard of character and fitness for a position on the nation’s highest court must be higher than this. Judge Kavanaugh has staunchly declared his respect for women and issued blanket denials of any possible misconduct, but those declarations are in serious doubt.”
In a dramatic week, Kavanaugh and Christine Blasey Ford are scheduled to testify to the Senate judiciary committee on Thursday, in a fraught public hearing that could either sink or facilitate his nomination.
At the hearing, Kavanaugh will acknowledge drinking in high school with his friends in sworn testimony, but will say he’s never done anything “remotely resembling” the sexual misconduct alleged by Ford, who was the first woman to come forward earlier this month.
“I am innocent of this charge,” Kavanaugh will say, according to written testimony released Wednesday by the committee. Kavanaugh says he has “never sexually assaulted anyone not in high school, not in college, not ever”.
Donald Trump on Wednesday morning said Republicans have been “nice” and “respectful” in their treatment of Ford. He described Kavanaugh as “a real gem” and said he probably would have preferred to push for faster confirmation rather than waiting for Ford’s testimony.
In a speech on the chamber floor later in the day, senator Jeff Flake, a member of the Judicary Committee and a key Republican vote, said sexual assault is a serious allegation and questioned what message it sends to young women if they are dismissed without equally serious consideration.
The senator lamented the coarsening of American politics and revealed that he received a death threat against his family after he called for a hearing to allow Ford to testify. 
“These past two years we have tested the limits of how low we can go and my colleagues, I say to you, that winning at all cost is too high a cost,” he said. 
Flake said he is undecided on how he will vote on Kavanaugh’s nomination, and will be guided by Thursday’s hearing. He acknowledged, however, that whether Kavanaugh is confirmed or not, he is certain the vote will “forever be steeped in doubt”. 
Meanwhile, Senator Jeff Merkley, a Democrat from Oregon, filed a lawsuit on Wednesday to halt the confirmation process. In the suit, the senator alleges that the White House has obstructed his constitutional duty to advise and consent on supreme court nominees by refusing to release thousands of documents  relating to the judge’s service working in the Bush administration
“We have seen something that we have not seen in the history of the United States in terms of the executive branch reaching out in direct and extensive and substantial ways to interfere with the function of the Senate’s advise and consent responsibility,” he told reporters on Wednesday. “This is uncharted territory,” he added. 
He shrugged when asked about the timing of the lawsuit, filed just two days before the committee is scheduled to vote: “It’s ready now.”
The move comes as Senate Republicans vow to push ahead with Kavanaugh’s nomination in light of fresh accusations of sexual misconduct. If successful, the suit would stop the chamber from taking a final vote on his nomination, which could happen as early as next week. 
Ford’s lawyers said on Wednesday they have given the US Senate sworn affidavits from four people who say she told them – well before Brett Kavanaugh’s supreme court nomination – that she had been sexually assaulted when she was much younger.Ford’s lawyers said on Wednesday they have given the US Senate sworn affidavits from four people who say she told them – well before Brett Kavanaugh’s supreme court nomination – that she had been sexually assaulted when she was much younger.
And according to all four, she either named Kavanaugh as the assailant or described the attacker as a “federal judge”.And according to all four, she either named Kavanaugh as the assailant or described the attacker as a “federal judge”.
In a dramatic week, Ford and Kavanaugh are scheduled to testify to the Senate judiciary committee on Thursday, in a fraught public hearing that could either sink or facilitate his nomination. Sign up for the Guardian’s US morning briefing
At the United Nations general assembly meeting of world leaders in New York, Donald Trump on Wednesday morning said Republicans have been “nice” and “respectful” in their treatment of Ford. He described Kavanaugh as “a real gem” and said he probably would have preferred to push for faster confirmation rather than waiting for Ford’s testimony. Deborah Ramirez became the second woman to identify herself earlier this week, alleging that Kavanaugh exposed himself to her as a student at a party, amid the boozy culture of Yale University.
Also on Wednesday, 1,600 men signed up to an advertisement in the New York Times saying they believe Ford. The judiciary committee has scheduled its own vote on Kavanaugh’s confirmation for Friday morning. Republican leaders could keep the full Senate in session this weekend, producing a final showdown vote before 1 October, when the supreme court’s autumn term begins.
The committee had planned to vote on the nomination last week, with high expectation that Kavanaugh would be easily approved by the Republican majority and be set fair for a vote of the full, also Republican-dominated, US Senate.
But then the allegations from Ford were revealed. A second accuser has now also come forward and identified herself, alleging that Kavanaugh exposed himself to her as a student at a party, amid the boozy culture of Yale University. And a third accuser is said to be in the wings, ready to come forward before Thursday’s hearing.
Meanwhile the judiciary committee has scheduled its own vote on Kavanaugh for Friday morning. Republican leaders could keep the full Senate in session this weekend, producing a final showdown vote before 1 October, when the supreme court’s autumn term begins.
It emerged on Wednesday that in one of the affidavits, Keith Koegler, a family friend of Ford, said he wrote to Ford in a 29 June 2018 email about her account of being sexually assaulted: “I remember you telling me about him, but I don’t remember his name.”
He added: “Do you mind telling me so I can read about him?”
“Brett Kavanaugh,” Ford responded by email, according to Koegler, her son’s baseball team coach. At that point, Kavanaugh was on a well-known shortlist of potential nominees to replace retiring supreme court justice Anthony Kennedy.
Ford’s husband, Russell Ford, has said in a sworn statement that in 2012, during a couples therapy session, his wife revealed that in high school she had been “trapped in a room and physically restrained by one boy who was molesting her while another boy watched”. She said the attacker was Kavanaugh.
In a third affidavit, Adela Gildo-Mazzon, a close friend , said Ford first told her about the assault in June 2013.
“Christine told me she … had been thinking about an assault she experienced when she was much younger,” Gildo-Mazzon’s states. “She said that she had been almost raped by someone who was now a federal judge.”
And neighbor Rebecca White ran into Ford in 2017, who said she had seen White’s social media post describing her own experience with sexual assault.
“She then told me that when she was a young teen, she had been sexually assaulted by an older teen. I remember her saying that her assailant was now a federal judge.”
The judiciary committee chairman, Chuck Grassley, said an Arizona sex crimes prosecutor, Rachel Mitchell, will handle the questioning on behalf of Republican senators at the hearing.The judiciary committee chairman, Chuck Grassley, said an Arizona sex crimes prosecutor, Rachel Mitchell, will handle the questioning on behalf of Republican senators at the hearing.
Brett KavanaughBrett Kavanaugh
US supreme courtUS supreme court
US SenateUS Senate
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