When TPM asked Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Chuck Grassley (R-IA) on Tuesday if the then-unnamed outside counsel they’d hired to participate in Thursday’s hearing would question Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh in addition to Christine Blasey Ford, who’s accused Kavanaugh of sexual assault, Grassley was plain.
“Yeah, obviously.”
But on Thursday, that hasn’t occurred. Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and John Cornyn (R-TX) both allowed outside counsel Rachel Mitchell ask questions of Blasey Ford. And though Mitchell asked questions of Kavanaugh at first during his time before the committee, both Graham and Cornyn questioned Kavanaugh themselves during their allotted time, with no help from Mitchell.
Tierney Sneed contributed reporting.
That was so predictable. As predictable as problems with posting comments on TPM!
Nothing to see here, move along. We’re just trying to grease the skids for another unqualified nominee to the highest court in the land…
No one seems to mention that the point at which Mitchell was relieved of her duties was when she started questioning Kavanaugh about the party on July 1. It places the same people Ford mentioned at a party. She is either completely dim or she was working as an actual prosecuter. Clearly this became “look at the shiny object”–Graham’s temper tantrum–and don’t notice that there is a party that meets Ford’s recollection.
cant have a bipartisan prosecutor asking questions of Brett, perish the thought…