Was it all over President Donald Trump‘s Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh before he even had the opportunity to respond to Dr. Christine Blasey Ford‘s allegation of sexual assault?
It is not looking good for the embattled nominee, by the own implicit admission of Senate Republicans who are saying they have no reason to doubt Ford’s credibility after listening to her testimony Thursday on Capitol Hill.
Sen. John Cornyn‘s(R-Texas) takeaway, in his own words: “I found no reason to find her not credible.”
Sen. @JohnCornyn on Dr. Ford: "I found no reason to find her not credible." https://t.co/005BvMqW3Y pic.twitter.com/lFkAlQA0DU
— Fox News (@FoxNews) September 27, 2018
Meanwhile other influential figures in Republican circles are conceding that Ford’s passed the “credibility” test with her testimony.
Fox News legal analyst Judge Andrew Napolitano put Ford’s credibility at “100 percent.”
Fox’s Napolitano Says Christine Ford Comes Off With ‘Great Credibility’: ‘At This Point, She is 100%’https://t.co/OlqCNwVzFQ
— Judge Napolitano (@Judgenap) September 27, 2018
Fox News anchor Chris Wallace called Ford’s testimony “extremely emotional, extremely raw, and extremely credible,” saying that the hearing amounts to a “disaster for Republicans.”
Former U.S. senator Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) touted Ford’s “authenticity” on CNN.
"Watching her, she seemed authentic…and that's a big problem for Brett Kavanaugh." Santorum on CNN.
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) September 27, 2018
Fox News’ Brit Hume openly doubted on air Thursday afternoon that Kavanaugh has the votes he needs to ascend to the highest court in the land.
Fox just now:
Bret Baier: Right now, does he have the votes to get through?
Brit Hume: No, not right now.— David Dayen (@ddayen) September 27, 2018
Harvard Law Professor Alan Dershowitz said, “Ford will win the credibility determination,” mid-way through the hearing.
Checked in w @AlanDersh mid-hearing: “Ford will win the credibility determination. If R's were smart, they'd call Avenatti's witness who would fall apart on cross examination… if I had to bet at this point, I'd say that we will not see Justice Kavanaugh at the Supreme Court."
— Jacqueline Alemany (@JaxAlemany) September 27, 2018
Dershowitz himself is not a Republican, but has opinion on much of the Russia Probe happenings has time and again proven a valued one for President Trump.
Other rumblings on Capitol Hill? Republicans (granted, unnamed ones) were not pleased, in hindsight, with having veteran sex crimes prosecutor Rachel Mitchell questioning Ford.
Yashar Ali says that “every prominent Republican I’ve spoken to in the past two hours believes the decision to have [Rachel] Mitchell do the questioning is an unmitigated disaster.”
Every prominent Republican I've spoken to in the past two hours believes the decision to have Mitchell do the questioning is an unmitigated disaster.
— Yashar Ali 🐘 (@yashar) September 27, 2018
The New York Times‘ Maggie Haberman echoed this.
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.
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) September 27, 2018
[Image via Zach Gibson/Getty Images]
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