Getty Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh is sworn in to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill on September 27, 2018 in Washington, DC. Kavanaugh was called back to testify about claims by Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, who has accused him of sexually assaulting her during a party in 1982 when they were high school students in suburban Maryland.
The America Bar Association has more than 400,000 members. It’s one of the world’s largest voluntary professional organizations. Late Thursday, after the Senate Judiciary Committee hearings the ABA sent a letter to the Committee calling for a delay on the vote on Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.
American Bar Association president Robert M. Carlson wrote that the Senate Judiciary committee “and as appropriate the full Senate” must conduct “an appropriate background check into the allegations” made against Kavanaugh by Dr. Christine Blasey Ford and at least two other women and that investigation “completed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.”
“We make this request because of the ABA’s respect for the rule of law and due process under law. The basic principles that underscore the Senate’s constitutional duty of advice and consent on federal judicial nominees require nothing less than a careful examination of the accusations and facts by the FBI.
“Each appointment to our nation’s Highest Court (as with all others) is simply too important to rush to a vote. Deciding to proceed without conducting additional investigation would not only have a lasting impact on the Senate’s reputation, but it will also negatively affect the great trust necessary for the American people to have in the Supreme Court. It must remain an institution that will reliably follow the law and not politics.
Respectfully, the Senate should recognize that a thorough FBI investigation will demonstrate its commitment to a Supreme Court that is above reproach.”
Read the letter here:
ABA Letter to Senate Judici… by on Scribd
Thursday’s testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee included Blasey Ford swearing that she was certain that as teenagers, Kavanaugh, with his friend now-conservative writer and recovering alcoholic Mark Judge egging him on tried to rape her. She said both were drunk and laughing during the assault.
Friday the Committee is moving forward with a vote for Kavanaugh’s confirmation at 1:30 p.m.
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