Today’s vote is not the end; it is the beginning of a fight to end Republican control of Congress and the White House
Washington (October 6, 2018) – Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) today condemned the Republican-controlled Senate’s rushed confirmation of Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh to the United States Supreme Court, after the White House and Senate Republican leadership prevented the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) from fully investigating sexual assault claims against Judge Kavanaugh.
“The retirement of Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy created one of the most consequential vacancies on the high court that this country has ever seen. In nominating Brett Kavanaugh to fill it, President Trump found a judge who would rubber stamp his right-wing agenda from the bench and fulfill his campaign promises to overturn Roe v. Wade and the Affordable Care Act, gut environmental protections, end sensible gun control measures, and close a free and open internet,” said Senator Markey. “Brett Kavanaugh also has written extensively that a sitting president should not be investigated, tried, or indicted for his crimes. It is no coincidence that a president who fears the long arm of the law would nominate to the Supreme Court a jurist who would keep him from its reach.”
“President Trump and the Senate Republicans hid from the Senate and the American public 93 percent of Brett Kavanaugh’s documents from his service in the Bush White House. Brett Kavanaugh’s fingerprints were all over Bush administration decisions on the detention of enemy combatants; interrogation techniques and the use of torture; warrantless wiretapping; and efforts to ban same sex marriage. Yet Senators were prevented from reviewing Kavanaugh’s record.”
“Judge Kavanaugh’s performance at his confirmation hearings showed us that he is a political partisan, and lacks the honesty, credibility, and judicial temperament to serve on the nation’s highest court.”
“The Senate confirmation process controlled by Republicans has been a disgrace. The President and the Senate Republicans engaged in a cover-up of the allegations made by Dr. Christine Blasey Ford and others against Brett Kavanaugh. The FBI’s hands were tied. Only nine witnesses were interviewed. Thousands of leads from the FBI tip line were never investigated. Senators were given one hour to review the FBI’s report. And that’s because the White House and Senate Republicans weren’t interested in getting to the truth. They were interested only in ramming through Judge Kavanaugh’s nomination before the mid-term elections. The Republicans will pay a price at the ballot box for what they have done. We will have a reckoning in November. Women’s voices need to and will be heard at the ballot box.”
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