Democrats push for more witnesses at hearing on Kavanaugh accusations
by Laura Barrón-López
| September 18, 2018 12:11 PM
Senate Democrats on Tuesday pressed Republicans to allow more witnesses to testify at next week's hearing with Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh and California professor Christine Blasey Ford, who has accused the judge of sexual assault.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said senators need to hear from relevant witnesses like Kavnaugh's friend Mark Judge, who Ford said was also in the room when the alleged assault took place.
"There must be an agreement on witnesses, and the FBI should be given time to reopen it's background check on Judge Kavanaugh to speak to any potential witnesses or any relevant individuals," Schumer said Tuesday on the Senate floor. "That way, senators will have necessary information and expert analysis at their disposal at the hearing making it much less likely that it will devolve into a 'he said, she said' affair."
Schumer said he believes Ford's account, but that in order for senators to make their determinations, the FBI should reopen its background check to include these specific allegations, which FBI officials didn't know about when initially vetting Kavanaugh.
"We have two diametrically opposed stories," said Schumer. "In my view, Professor Ford is telling the truth."
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., the top Democrat on the Judiciary committee, backed Schumer's call for more witnesses, arguing that 22 witnesses were called to the 1991 Anita Hill hearing.
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/campaigns/democrats-push-for-more-witnesses-at-hearing-on-kavanaugh-accusations