Scarborough on GOP defending Kavanaugh: ‘What are Republicans afraid of?’

MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough on Monday said Republicans should hold off on a confirmation vote for Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh so that allegations of sexual misconduct can be better investigated.

“I have absolutely no idea why the Republicans can’t … pump the brakes, investigate this for a couple more weeks,” Scarborough said Monday.

{mosads}”If they are correct and these women are lying, then Judge Kavanaugh will be in great shape and if it’s an FBI investigation these women will be going to jail, so the question is, what are Republicans afraid of if the truth is on their side?”

Democrats have called for an FBI investigation into Christine Blasey Ford’s claims that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her at a party in the early 1980s.

Republicans have set up a hearing for Thursday where the Judiciary Committee will hear from Ford and Kavanaugh. But they have also criticized Democrats for bringing up the news at the last minute, saying this suggests the party is just trying to delay Kavanaugh’s confirmation.

They have focused their ire on Sen. Dianne Feinstein (Calif.), the ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, who received a letter from Ford in July detailing her accusations. Ford asked Feinstein to keep the matter private, a request Feinstein said she honored.

The allegations eventually were leaked to the press after Kavanaugh’s initial confirmation hearing. Republicans have criticized Feinstein for not raising the issue in her meetings with Kavanaugh.

Kavanaugh’s confirmation has come under additional strain on Sunday when The New Yorker reported allegations from Deborah Ramirez that Kavanaugh exposed himself to her at a party at Yale University.

He denied the claim, saying in a statement, “This is a smear, plain and simple.”

The White House and Republicans have said the claim is baseless and have pointed to reporting by The New York Times and The New Yorker story itself to make their case.

The New York Times reported that it had interviewed “several dozen people over the past week” trying to corroborate Ramirez’s story “and could find no one with firsthand knowledge.”

Additionally, the Times reports Ramirez also told some her former classmates that she could not be certain it was Kavanaugh who exposed himself to her, as she conducted her own efforts to find someone who could recall if the incident involved him.