Kavanaugh Appears Headed For Narrow SCOTUS Confirmation Saturday

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, who has faced three separate allegations of sexual assault or misconduct, appears headed to a narrow confirmation victory in the United States Senate on Saturday, after one of the last supposedly undecided Senators, Republican Susan Collins of Maine, announced that she would vote to confirm Kavanaugh. Collins in a lengthy 3 p.m. speech on the Senate floor Friday, directly addressed the allegations by Palo Alto University research psychologist Christine Blasey Ford, that Kavanaugh sexually attacked her at a teenage house party when he was 17 and she was 15. But in her speech, Collins appeared reluctant to accuse Blasey Ford of fabricating the allegations, instead endorsing the view that Blasey Ford had somehow mistaken Kavanaugh for someone else—despite the fact that Blasey Ford testified to her "100 percent" certainty in her recollections. “I believe she's a survivor of sexual assault and this trauma has upended her life,” Collins said. But she went on to claim that Blasey Ford’s allegations did not meet a standard she decsribed as “more likely than not.” “I do not believe that the claims such as these need to be proved beyond a reasonable doubt. Nevertheless, fairness would dictate that the claims at least should meet a threshold of more likely than not as our standard,” she said. “The facts presented do not mean that Professor Ford was not sexually assaulted that night or at some other time, but they do lead more to conclude that the allegations fail to meet the more likely than not standard. Therefore, I do not believe that these charges can fairly prevent Judge Kavanaugh from serving on the court.” Moments after Collins concluded her speech, West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin became the only Senate Democrat to announce his support for Kavanaugh, saying on his Twitter account that though he had “reservations about this vote given the serious accusations against Judge Kavanaugh,” he had concluded that Kavanaugh was “a qualified jurist who will follow the Constitution.” Earlier on Friday, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska signaled that she may become the only one of the 51 Republicans in the Senate to oppose Kavanaugh, when she voted “no” on a procedural vote that allowed the Senate to proceed with the confirmation process. No other Republican voted “no” on the procedural vote, but all Democrats except Manchin opposed it. Another potentially undecided Republican, Arizona’s Jeff Flake, also announced that he would support Kavanaugh, meaning that if Murkowski sticks with her “no” vote, Kavanaugh’s confirmation will be approved in Saturday’s vote, 51-49.  Reaction to Collins' decision, apparently sealing Kavanaugh’s confirmation, was swift and sharp. “Senator Collins  just committed to casting a vote to confirm an accused sexual predator, a vote to confirm a nominee that has been promised to criminalize abortion, a vote to disregard the trauma of women and survivors. SHAME,” wrote NARAL Pro-Choice America on the group’s Twitter account.  “You can tell the bad-faith is strong with this speech because she’s complaining about the ‘dark money’ spent opposing Kavanaugh without mentioning the considerably larger amount spent on his behalf,” noted Vox.com editor Matthew Yglesias. Collins in her speech also dismissed allegations by Julie Swetnick, a client of Stormy Daniels’ lawyer Michale Avenatti, who says she recalls Kavanaugh participating in parties at which girls were drugged and sexually assaulted by multiple high school boys. Collins called Swetnick’s allegations “outlandish” and  "stark reminder of why the presumption of innocence is so ingrained in our American consciousness." That prompted a quick response from Avenatti, posted to his Twitter account. “Senator Collins should be ashamed of herself for attacking my client and Dr. Ford,” Avenatti wrote. “How did she make a credibility determination as to my client? How is she qualified to do that without ANY investigation? She did ZERO to determine whether my client and her witnesses were credible.” The final vote to confirm Kavanaugh, which now appears to be at best a formality, is scheduled for Saturday.  Photo By U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit / Wikimedia Commons Public Domain