published Sep 18, 2018, 4:00:31 PM, by Laura Litvan, Steven T. Dennis and Erik Wasson
(Bloomberg) —

President Donald Trump said he feels “terribly” that Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh is facing a decades-old sexual assault allegation, while Democrats criticized as inadequate Republicans’ plan to hold a public hearing in which only Kavanaugh and his accuser would be called as witnesses.

“I feel so badly for him. This is not a man who deserves this,” Trump told reporters Tuesday at the White House. “Hopefully the woman will come forward, state her case. He will state his case,” he said, adding. “We will see what happens.”

Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley scheduled the hearing for Sept. 24 to hear California college professor Christine Blasey Ford’s claim that Kavanaugh assaulted her at a party more than 30 years ago. Only Ford and Kavanaugh, who has strongly denied the claim, are being called to testify, Grassley, an Iowa Republican, said on Hugh Hewitt’s radio show.

Ford hasn’t responded thus far to the committee’s invitation to testify, Grassley said. After a meeting with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Grassley and other Republicans on the panel said they still hope to hold the hearing on Monday. The Senate ended the week’s floor business Tuesday afternoon, canceling plans to be in session Thursday and Friday.

Democrats are strongly objecting to the plan to hear only from Kavanaugh and Ford. They said they need testimony from Kavanaugh classmate Mark Judge, who Ford said was present during the alleged attack.

“I have no memory of this alleged incident,” Judge said in a statement sent to the committee by his lawyer, Barbara Van Gelder. “Brett Kavanaugh and I were friends in high school but I do not recall the party described in Dr. Ford’s letter. More to the point, I never saw Brett act in the manner Dr. Ford describes.”

Judge’s statement added that he didn’t want to speak publicly about the matter.

‘Rush This Nomination’

“What about individuals who were previously told about this incident? What about experts who can speak to the effects of this kind of trauma on a victim?” Top Judiciary Committee Democrat Dianne Feinstein of California said in a statement. She accused Republicans of trying to “rush this nomination” and not fully vet Kavanaugh, a federal appeals court judge.

Trump told reporters that he remains “totally supportive” of Kavanaugh, and hasn’t spoken with him about the accusation because “he can handle himself better than anybody, he’s a very outstanding guy.” Kavanaugh was at the White House again Tuesday, after spending about nine hours there on Monday.

Trump also said he didn’t want the FBI to investigate the matter.

“I don’t think the FBI should be involved because they don’t want to be involved, if they wanted to be I would certainly do that,” the president said. “This is not really their thing. The senators will do a good job.”

FBI Background Check

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York and other Democrats have called for the FBI to reopen its background check of Kavanaugh to examine Ford’s allegation and interview any possible witnesses.

Democrats also particularly want to hear from Judge. “He is identified specifically as an eyewitness” and should testify, said second-ranking Senate Democrat Dick Durbin of Illinois.

Ford says that Kavanaugh was drunk at a Maryland house party in about 1982 and pinned her down on a bed, tried to remove her clothes and put his hand over her mouth to stop her from screaming. She said she was able to escape, but the Washington Post reported that she described the episode to a therapist in 2013 as a “rape attempt.”

Kavanaugh said in a statement released by the White House Monday, “This is a completely false allegation. I have never done anything like what the accuser describes — to her or to anyone.”

Top lawmakers in both parties swiftly staked out their positions over the allegations, even as Ford’s appearance before the panel fell into doubt. She was referred to as “an accuser” by top Republicans and “a survivor” by Democrats.

‘Not the End’

Durbin said Kavanaugh can expect questions from Democrats to test his denial that he even attended the party. GOP Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah said Kavanaugh told him he wasn’t at the party when the two spoke on Monday.

“His simple denial is not the end of the questioning,” Durbin told reporters. “If he appears under oath there are questions that will be asked, I am sure.”

Other Democrats made clear that their minds are made up.

“Her account is credible, and I believe her,” said Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, a New York Democrat. She added, “her account is specific, she told her therapist five years ago, she told a friend last year, she passed a polygraph test and she has everything to lose because her bravery in coming forward.”

Grassley told Hewitt that Ford’s memory of the alleged incident is key. He said he would evaluate her testimony based on “the credibility of it and how well she can remember facts from that far back. You understand, we’re talking about 35 years ago. I’d hate to have somebody ask me what I did 35 years ago.”

Memory ‘Gaps’

Second-ranking Senate Republican John Cornyn of Texas expressed doubts about Ford’s allegation.

“There are gaps in her memory. She doesn’t know how she got there. When it was,” Cornyn said. “That would logically be something where she would get questions.” He said it would be a “travesty” if Kavanaugh were to withdraw his nomination.

McConnell said Ford gets her chance to testify on Monday, in either public or private, but did not say whether Republicans would consider any alternative date.

“The accuser certainly does deserve to be heard,” said McConnell, who added that he’s confident Kavanaugh will be elevated to the high court despite the GOP’s narrow 51-49 control of the chamber.

GOP Senator Susan Collins, a moderate whose vote would be crucial to winning confirmation, said on Twitter she was suggesting to Grassley that before senators begin asking questions at Monday’s hearing, a lawyer for Ford should be allowed to question Kavanaugh, and a lawyer for Kavanaugh should question Ford.

“Such an approach would provide more continuity, elicit the most information & allow an in-depth examination of the allegations,” Collins of Maine said.

Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, another moderate Republican, said she wants a haring that is “fair and respectful” to Ford and Kavanaugh. “This senator does not want this to be a circus,” she said.

Grassley spokesman Taylor Foy said the Judiciary Committee’s GOP staff has contacted other alleged witnesses, based on the Washington Post’s report.

–With assistance from Justin Sink and James Rowley (Bloomberg Government).To contact the reporters on this story: Laura Litvan in Washington at llitvan@bloomberg.net ;Steven T. Dennis in Washington at sdennis17@bloomberg.net ;Erik Wasson in Washington at ewasson@bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: Joe Sobczyk at jsobczyk@bloomberg.net Laurie Asséo, Justin Blum
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