PD Editorial: Senate needs the facts before a Kavanaugh vote

Should Brett Kavanaugh withdraw from consideration for a lifetime appointment to the U.S. Supreme Court? Should the Senate refuse to confirm President Donald Trump's nominee?

The answers to those questions aren't yet clear.

This much is certain: The sexual abuse allegation leveled at Kavanaugh requires a good-faith review by the Senate before any decision is made on his fitness to serve on the nation's highest court.

Kavanaugh needs to answer questions, and so does his accuser.

A vote had been scheduled for Thursday in the Senate Judiciary Committee. After the recent confirmation hearing, it was a foregone conclusion that the committee would recommend Kavanaugh's confirmation to the full Senate, probably on a party-line vote.

But that was before California Sen. Dianne Feinstein forwarded a letter written by one of Kavanaugh's high school classmates, a woman who says that he forcibly groped her at a pool party in Maryland when they were teenagers.

And it was before Kavanaugh's accuser, Christine Blasey Ford, a research psychologist at Palo Alto University, identified herself publicly, repeated her allegation and volunteered to testify at a Senate hearing.

Kavanaugh denied the accusation - “I did not do this back in high school or at any time,” he said in a statement - and offered to speak again to the Senate.

The Senate Judiciary Committee made the right decision in scheduling a hearing Monday in which Ford and Kavanaugh are to testify in public and under oath.

Iowa Sen. Charles Grassley, the committee chairman, initially said the complaint could be vetted in private phone calls. But that was never going to be sufficient. The Senate owes a full and fair evaluation to Ford, to Kavanaugh - and to the American people.

It also won't be sufficient if the hearing is an exercise in political grandstanding with Democratic and Republicans senators trying to score partisan points before a national TV audience. That could be avoided by recruiting independent, outside attorneys to conduct the questioning.

Or, as Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, suggested, allow the attorneys for Kavanaugh and Ford to question one another's clients before senators are allowed to pose their own questions.

The inquiry won't be complete unless the committee hears from any other witnesses who may be able to shed light on the matter, most notably Mark Judge, a friend of Kavanaugh who, according to Ford, was present when she was assaulted.

Finally, the committee should allow the FBI to conduct its own interviews and to see if any evidence or witnesses can be located to corroborate Ford's allegation or Kavanaugh's denial - even if that means postponing next week's hearing.

As Trump said on Monday, “We want to go through a full process” and, “if it takes a little delay, it'll take a little delay.”

Until now, Kavanaugh's nomination has been on the fast track, with Senate Republicans looking to confirm him before the midterm election. Democrats were denied access to documents from Kavanaugh's tenure as White House staff secretary under George W. Bush, and then left to review 42,000 pages delivered hours before his confirmation hearing.

Senate rules allow a quick vote, but these are serious allegations, and senators should ascertain the facts before deciding whether to put Kavanaugh on the U.S. Supreme Court.

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