Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) said the Democratic walkout at the beginning of Friday’s Senate Judiciary Committee vote on Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court nomination was not planned in advance.
Asked if Democrats may stage a similar protest when the full chamber votes on the embattled Supreme Court’s nominee’s confirmation, Harris told Hill.TV, “This was so not organized I don’t know.”
Harris and a few other Democrats including Sens. Mazie Hirono (Hawaii) and Richard Blumenthal (Conn.) left the hearing room after the panel voted to establish 1:30 p.m. as the time when the panel will vote to send Kavanaugh’s nomination to the full Senate.
Blumenthal said he was “outraged” by the GOP’s decision to cut off debate.
He, Harris and Hirono joined several Democratic lawmakers to speak to a growing crowd of protesters gathering in the Hart Senate Office Building’s cavernous atrium.
At the start of Friday’s meeting, Blumenthal lost a vote to subpoena Kavanaugh’s high school friend Mark Judge to appear before the committee and testify on Christine Blasey Ford’s accusation that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her at a party 36 years ago.
Judge resubmitted a statement “under penalty of felony” to the committee on Thursday in which he denied Ford’s accusation, saying, “I do not recall the events described by Dr. Ford.”
Further, Judge explained “as a recovering alcoholic and cancer survivor, I have struggled with depression and anxiety. As a result, I avoid public speaking.”
Asked if Democrats would settle for a closed-door hearing under oath, Blumenthal, a former Connecticut attorney general, said Judge must appear in public, as Ford did on Thursday.
“He is a key witness. It should be under oath in public. He has submitted absolutely no evidence for any medical reason that he cannot appear,” Blumenthal said.
— Molly K. Hooper
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