this morning Adam we continue our
hearing on the nomination of Judge Brent
Cavanaugh to serve as associate justice
on our Supreme Court we will hear from
two witnesses dr. Christine blase Ford
and judge Cavanaugh thanks of course to
dr. Ford and judge Cavanaugh for
accepting our committee's invitation to
testify and also thank them for their
volunteering to testify before we even
invited both dr. Ford and Judge
Cavanaugh have been through a terrible
couple weeks they and their families
have received vile threats what they
have endured ought to be considered by
all of us as unacceptable and a poor
reflection on the state of civility in
our democracy so I want to apologize to
you both for the way you've been treated
and I intend hopefully for today's
hearing to be safe comfortable and
dignified for both of our witnesses I
hope my colleagues will join me in this
effort of a show of civility with that
said a lament that this hearing how this
hearing has come about on July the 9th
2018 the president announced judge
Cavanaugh's nomination to serve on the
Supreme Court judge Cavanaugh has served
on the most important federal appellate
court for 12 years before that he held
some of the most sensitive positions in
the federal government the president
added Judge Cavanaugh to his short list
of Supreme Court more than nine months
ago
in November 2017 as part of judge
Cavanaugh's nomination the Supreme Court
the FBI conducted his sixth full field
background investigation of Judge
Cavanaugh since 1993 25 years ago
nowhere in any of these six FBI reports
which committee investigators have
reviewed on a bipartisan basis was there
a whiff of any issue any issue at all
related in any way to inappropriate
sexual behavior dr. Ford first raised
her allegations in a secret letter to
the ranking member nearly two months ago
in July this letter was secret from July
30th September 13th to no joy xxx until
September 13th when I first heard about
it the ranking member took no action the
letter wasn't shared with me our
colleagues or my staff these allegations
could have been investigated in a way
that maintained the confidentiality that
dr. Ford requested before his hearing
judge have Kavanaugh met privately with
65 senators including the ranking member
but the ranking member didn't ask judge
Kavanagh about the allegations when she
met with him privately in August the
Senate Judiciary Committee held its
four-day public hearing from September 4
to September 7th judge Cavanaugh
testified for more than 32 hours of in
public we held a closed session for
members to ask sensitive questions on
that on the last evening which the
ranking member did not attend Judge
Cavanaugh answered nearly 1,300 written
questions submitted by senators after
the airing more than all prior Supreme
Court nominees
throughout this period we did not know
about the ranking members secret
evidence then only at an eleventh hour
on the eve of Judge Cavanaugh's
confirmation vote did the ranking member
referred the allegations to the FBI and
then sadly the allegations were leaked
to the press and that's where dr. Ford
was mistreated this is a shameful way to
treat our witness who insisted on
confidentiality and and of course judge
Kavanagh who has had to address these
allegations in the midst of a media
circus
when I received dr. Ford's letter on
September the 13th
my staff and I recognized the
seriousness of these allegations and
immediately began our committees
investigation consistent with the way
the committee has handled such
allegations in the past every step of
the way the Democratic side refused to
participate in what should have been a
bipartisan investigation and as far as I
know on all of our judgeships throughout
at least the last four years or three
years that's been the way it's been
handled
after dr. Ford's identity became public
my staff contacted all the individuals
she said attended the 1982 party
described in the Orangemen Post article
judge Cavanaugh immediately submitted to
an interview under penalty of felony for
any knowingly false statements he denied
the allegations categorically Democratic
staff was invited to participate and
could have asked any questions he wanted
to but they declined which leads me then
to wonder if they're really concerned
with going to the truth why wouldn't you
want to talk to the accused the process
and procedure is what the committee
always does when we receive allegations
of wrongdoing my staff reached out to
other individuals allegedly at the party
mark
patrick smith leland kaiser all three
submitted statements to the senate under
an under penalty of felony denying any
knowledge of the events described by
doctor for doctor ford's lifelong friend
doctor miss kaiser stated she doesn't
know judge Kavanaugh and doesn't recall
ever attending a party with him
my staff made repeated requests to
interview dr. Ford during the past
eleven days even volunteering to fly to
California to take her testimony but her
attorneys refused to prevent present her
allegations to Congress I never I never
the less honored her request for a
public hearing so dr. Ford today has the
opportunity to prevent her allegations
under oath as you can see the Judiciary
Committee was able to conduct thorough
investigations into allegations are
thoroughly investigations into
allegations some of my colleagues
consistent with their stated desires to
obstruct Cavanaugh's nomination by any
means precisely by any means necessary
ports for FBI investigations into the
allegations but I have no authority to
force the executive branch agency to
conduct an investigation into a matter
it considers to be closed moreover once
the allegations become became public it
was easy to identify all the alleged
witnesses and conduct our own
investigations contrary to what the
public has been led to believe the FBI
doesn't perform any credibility
assessments or verify the truth of any
events in these baskets
investigations now quote then chairman J
Joe Biden during justice Thomas's
confirmation hearing this is what
senator Biden said quote the next person
who refers to an FBI report as being
worth anything obviously doesn't
understand anything the FBI
explicitly
does not in this or any other case reach
a conclusion period
they say he he said she said
they said period so when people wave an
FBI report before you understand they do
not they do not they do not reach
conclusions they do not make
recommendations end of senator Biden's
quote the FBI provided us with the
allegations now it's up to the Senate to
assess their credibility which brings us
to this very time I look forward to a
fair and respectful hearing that's what
we promised dr. Ford some of my
colleagues have complained about the
fact that an expert on this side is
investigating sex crimes will be
questioning the witness
I see no basis for complaint other than
just plain politics the testimony we
will hear today concerns allegations of
sexual assault very serious allegations
this is an incredibly complex and
sensitive subject to discuss and it's
not an easy one to discuss that is why
the senators on this side of the dais
believe an expert who has deep
experience and training and interviewing
victims of sexual assault and
investigating sexual assault allegations
should be asking questions this will be
a stark contrast to the grandstanding in
chaos that we saw from the other side
during the previous four days in this
hearing process I can think of no one
better equipped to question the
witnesses than Rachael Mitchell miss
Mitchell is a career prosecutor civil
servant with decades of experience
investigating and prosecuting sex crimes
she has dedicated her career to seeking
justice for survivors of sex related
felonies most recently Rachel was a
division chief of the Special Victims
Division
Maricopa County Attorney's Office which
prosecutes sex crimes and family
violence then Democratic senator
governor Janet Napolitano previously
recognized her as the outstanding
Arizona of sexual assault prosecutor of
the year and she has spent years
instructing prosecutors detectives and
child protection workers on how to
properly interview victims of sexual
assault and abuse with her aid I look
forward to a fair and productive hearing
I understand that there are two other
public allegations today's hearing was
scheduled to in close consultation with
dr. Ford's attorneys and her testimony
will be the subject of this hearing
we've been trying to investigate other
allegations at this time we have not had
cooperation from attorneys representing
other clients and they have made no
attempt to substantiate their claims my
staff has tried to secure testimony and
evidence from attorneys for both to bar
Deborah Ramirez and Julie sweat Nick my
staff made eight requests yes eight
request for evidence from attorneys for
Miss miss Ramirez and six requests from
for evidence for attorneys for Miss
sweat Nick
neither attorney has made their clients
available for interview the committee
can't do an investigation if attorneys
are stonewalling I hope you all
understand that we have attempted to
seek additional information as we do a
lot of times when there are holes in
what we call the BI reports
additionally all the witnesses should
know by when I say all the witnesses I
mean dr. Ford and I mean judge Kavanaugh
all the witness should know that they
have the right under Senate rule 26.5
to ask that the committee going to
closed session if a question requires an
answer that is a clear invasion of their
right to privacy if these are dr. Ford
or judge Cavanaugh I feel that's Senate
rule 26 five ought to be involved they
should simply say so senator Feinstein