Getty Some people want Melissa McCarthy to play Rachel Mitchell.
Rachel Mitchell, the veteran sex crimes prosecutor assigned to question Christine Blasey Ford, wasn’t winning many fans with people on either side of the aisle.
What many people seemed to agree on, though, as memes and reactions flew: Melissa McCarthy would be the perfect person to play Rachel Mitchell in a seemingly inevitable Saturday Night Live skit:
@melissamccarthy is ready to star as Rachel Mitchell when this gets made into a movie.
I can already see @melissamccarthy as Rachel Mitchell…but then how does one spoof watching paint dry?
I’m assuming #SNL has already reached out to #MelissaMcCarthy to play Prosecutor Rachel Mitchell …
Sen. Mazie Hirono is going in on Rachel Mitchell not asking #DrChristineBlaseyFord questions about the actual sexual assault. Truth. #KavanaughHearings
How do we get Rachel Mitchell to take over the GOP Congress’s jobs permanently?
https://twitter.com/BertAguinATX/status/1045366885766828032
Question: What kind of career sex crimes prosecutor allows herself to be used as a TOOL of @SenateGOP to attempt to discredit the testimony of a sex crime SURVIVOR? will she question #Kavanaugh? If not, why not? Shame on you, #RachelMitchell. #IBelieveChristineBlaseyFord
Mitchell, who leads a sex crimes and family violence unit in the Maricopa County Attorney’s office, where she has worked for decades, was tapped by the Senate GOP to lead the questioning of Blasey Ford, who has accused Donald Trump’s nominee for U.S. Supreme Court, Brett Kavanaugh, of groping her without consent in high school in the 1980s. Kavanaugh denies the accusations and those of two other women who came forward to allege separate incidents.
Almost every person close to Trump who had told me having a sex crimes prosecutor question Ford was good strategy is saying they think it was a mistake after the first portion of the hearing.
Mitchell’s performance was panned on both sides: Republicans and Kavanaugh supporters said it was a mistake to have her methodically question Ford about the time line rather than allowing GOP senators to question her about things like the fact that the three people she named as being at the party all say they don’t recollect it (including a female friend). Meanwhile, Democrats were helping shape a narrative that favored Ford.
Every GOP campaign strategist and Hill staffer wishes they had the button to open the trap door under Rachel Mitchell’s chair. What a total and complete Political disaster for Republicans.
Democrats and Kavanaugh opponents were criticizing Mitchell for approaching Ford as a prosecutor would when Ford is the accuser, and they didn’t like some of her lines of questioning.
Here are some of the reactions on Twitter:
Well there’s a surprise, old rich white men having a woman do their dirty work.
Don’t wait up for Rachel Mitchell to have a ‘Perry Mason’ gotcha moment or a direct attack on Ford.
This is a meticulous line of questioning that allows Ford to destroy her own credibility and not look aggressive.
#KavanaughHearings
When Rachel Mitchell thinks she’s discredited Christine Margaret Blasey Ford by pointing out she has a fear of flying but worked for a company in Australia and Ford points out that she worked for their office in the U.S. (not that it would matter) #KavanaughHearings
All who think Rachel Mitchell just destroyed her career please raise your hands
Sen. Mazie Hirono calls out Rachel Mitchell for 1) treating Christine Blasey Ford like a criminal; 2) not acknowledging that details after an assault are often hazy to victims; 3) implying that CBF has a political motivation for trying to keep her attacker off the Supreme Court.
Rachel Mitchell looks like the biggest “pawn”
Wrote one Twitter user: “‘There is a special place in hell for women who don’t help other women'”. Your reservation is confirmed Rachel Mitchell.”
Grassley Called Rachel Mitchell a Career Prosecutor With Decades of Experience but Dr. Ford’s Attorneys Opposed an Outside Counsel
GettyRachel Mitchell, the chief of the Special Victims Division of the Maricopa County attorneyÕs office in Arizona, prepares to question Christine Blasey Ford on behalf of Republican members of the Senate Judiciary Committee in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill September 27, 2018 in Washington, DC
In his statement, Chuck Grassley praised Rachel Mitchell’s career. Grassley said that Mitchell has “decades of experience prosecuting sex crimes,” calling her a “career prosecutor.”
He added, “As I have said, I’m committed to providing a forum to both Dr. Ford and Judge Kavanaugh on Thursday that is safe, comfortable and dignified. The majority members have followed the bipartisan recommendation to hire as staff counsel for the committee an experienced career sex-crimes prosecutor to question the witnesses at Thursday’s hearing.”
Although critics have alleged the GOP Senators just don’t want the bad optics of an all-male panel questioning Ford, Grassley gave another motive. “The goal is to de-politicize the process and get to the truth, instead of grandstanding and giving senators an opportunity to launch their presidential campaigns,” Grassley said.
“I’m very appreciative that Rachel Mitchell has stepped forward to serve in this important and serious role. Ms. Mitchell has been recognized in the legal community for her experience and objectivity. I’ve worked to give Dr. Ford an opportunity to share serious allegations with committee members in any format she’d like after learning of the allegations. I promised Dr. Ford that I would do everything in my power to avoid a repeat of the ‘circus’ atmosphere in the hearing room that we saw the week of September 4. I’ve taken this additional step to have questions asked by expert staff counsel to establish the most fair and respectful treatment of the witnesses possible.”
However, Ford’s attorneys have repeatedly objected to the Senate Judiciary Committee using an outside lawyer to question Ford. Michael Bromwich, an attorney for Ford, said previously in a statement, “This is not a criminal trial for which the involvement of an experienced sex crimes prosecutor would be appropriate. Neither Dr. Blasey Ford nor Judge Kavanaugh is on trial. The goal should be to develop the relevant facts, not try a case.”
Rachel Mitchell Is on Leave From the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office in Phoenix, Arizona
Rachel Mitchell is a prosecutor from Arizona, but she’s now on leave.
“Mitchell worked in the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office in Phoenix as the chief of the Special Victims Division, which covers sex crimes and family violence,” reported 12News.
CNN reported that Mitchell is currently on leave from her position as “the deputy county attorney and as the chief of the Special Victims Division” in Maricopa County.
Mitchell was pictured in the County attorney’s newsletter as part of a team that won an award, and a post on Twitter indicates she spoke at a conference about medical findings in child sex abuse cases.
“Operation Safe Treat is a partnership between the MCAO, US Marshal’s Office, several local police departments and the Maricopa County Probation Department which sends teams of officers out to the community in the weeks leading up to and on Halloween checking on registered sex offenders to ensure they are following the rules,” the caption with the photo in the County Attorney’s newsletter read.
In 2014, a commission recommended her as a possible judicial candidate in Arizona.