Collins knocks Democrats over handling of Kavanaugh assault allegation
Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) is knocking Senate Democrats for their handling of a sexual assault allegation against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.
Collins, a key swing vote in the Supreme Court fight, questioned why Democrats had waited for weeks to come forward with the allegation, arguing it wasn’t “fair” to either Kavanaugh or Christine Blasey Ford, who alleges that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her in the early 1980s.
“What is puzzling to me is the Democrats, by not bringing this out earlier, after having had this information for more than six weeks, have managed to cast a cloud of doubt on both the professor and the judge,” Collins told The New York Times.
{mosads}Collins asked if Democrats believed Ford, “why didn’t they surface this information earlier,” and if they didn’t believe Ford, “why did they decide at the 11th hour to release it?”
“It is really not fair to either of them the way it is was handled,” Collins said.
Collins’s comments come after Ford spoke publicly about the alleged incident for the first time during an interview with The Washington Post that was published on Sunday.
Ford told the Post that Kavanaugh “groped her over her clothes, grinding his body against hers and clumsily attempting to pull off her one-piece bathing suit and the clothing she wore over it.”
Kavanaugh has denied the alleged incident, which Ford says took place when they were both in high school.
Collins has not announced a decision on Kavanaugh, and where she ultimately comes down will help determine when, and if, he gets confirmed.
Democrats need to win over two Republican senators, and keep their own caucus united, if they want to sink Kavanaugh.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) told CNN on Sunday night that delaying a committee vote on Kavanaugh “might” need to be considered, and GOP Sens. Bob Corker (Tenn.) and Jeff Flake (Ariz.) both indicated senators should hear from Ford.
Collins said Ford should be interviewed, according to the Times, but she hasn’t yet weighed in on if a Senate Judiciary Committee vote that is currently scheduled for Thursday needs to be put on pause.
“I’m going to be talking with my colleagues, but I really don’t have anything to add at this point,” Collins told CNN, as a reporter walked with her through Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.
Asked if she believed Kavanaugh’s accuser, she added: “I don’t know enough to make a judgment at this point.”
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