USA senators swap accusations over past FBI Kavanaugh probes

At a rally Trump ridiculed Christine Blasey Ford, who accuses Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her in high school – a claim Kavanaugh denies.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has made it clear that the confirmation vote for Judge Kavanaugh before the full Senate will take place this week, regardless if the Federal Bureau of Investigation has finished its latest probe on the allegations against Kavanaugh brought by California professor Dr. Christine Blasey Ford.

President Trump stoked what has become a searingly divisive debate on Tuesday night when, before a political rally of thousands in MS, he went beyond defending Brett Kavanaugh to mocking the accuser, Christine Blasey Ford. “Well, do you think it was – nope, it was one beer”, President Trump said, mimicking Ford’s testimony last week to the Senate Judiciary Committee.

“You can’t take it out on other people, the president’s insensitive remarks, ” he said. ‘Where was the place?’ I don’t remember. I don’t remember. How many years ago was it? I don’t know. I don’t know.

Senators Jeff Flake, Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski were among lawmakers who objected to Trump’s comments about Ford’s testimony on the alleged assault.

Last week, Flake had voted in committee to advance Kavanaugh’s nomination, but then called for the FBI to reopen its investigation into the nominee.

That means if all the Democrats vote against Mr Kavanaugh, Mr Trump could not afford to have more than one Republican oppose his nominee, with Vice President Mike Pence casting a tie-breaking vote.

At an event on Tuesday, Ms Clinton scoffed: “Boy, I’ll tell you, they give us a lot of credit”.

NPR’s Danielle Kurtzleben reported recently on how women have swung further towards the Democrats this year than in elections going back at least two decades.

Afterward, law professors across the country began discussing “with great distress, the unprecedented and unfathomable demeanor of Judge Kavanaugh”, said Bernard Harcourt, a professor at Columbia Law School.

“Man up and say it’s your decision, not ours, ” Schumer said.

Senators and aides have said that the file will contain forms of interviews conducted by the FBI – but not a conclusion from the bureau about who’s telling the truth in the case.

The FBI has also questioned Deborah Ramirez, who says he exposed himself to her during a college party. “I’d take him at his word, but we want to do first things first and read the report”.

About 6 in 10 said they approve of how Senate Republicans are handling the situation.

Reporters were quick to say that it was wrong to say that the president was speaking “facts”, citing Ford’s on-the-record testimony about who, when and where. Not smack, though – Micky, my potential initiator, had been just a little too eager for me to go through with that.

Grassley’s office rejected the assertion, calling the letter “baseless innuendo” on Twitter later on Wednesday and saying it reflected “more false smears from Senate Democrats”.

The Trump era has, at times, been uncomfortable for Republican women, especially the six senators who will be asked to vote for Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court confirmation by week’s end.

Kavanaugh has denied the accusations by all three women.

Democrats also demanded that the FBI privately brief the Senate about the investigation before the chamber votes. Chuck Grassley of Iowa.

Prior to testifying before the Senate, Dr Ford said she did not want to appear because she was afraid to fly and was suffered PTSD from the alleged assault that made her anxious in confined spaces.