Chris Cuomo: Presumption of innocence didn’t apply to Kavanaugh because it wasn’t a court case

CNN anchor Chris Cuomo said Wednesday that presumption of innocence did not apply to Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh because the allegations against him were not reviewed in a courtroom.

“Now look, I don’t know who wrote it, but the presumption of innocence is a valued, valued construct in a court of law,” said Cuomo, a vocal critic of the Trump administration. “We were not in a court of law. This was a kangaroo court.”

“This was politicians fighting over a position on the Supreme Court,” he added.

{mosads}Cuomo’s remarks echoed comments made by some Democratic senators, such as Sen. Mazie Hirono (Hawaii) and Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (N.Y.), during Kavanaugh’s confirmation fight.

Others, such as NBC’s Megyn Kelly and The Daily Wire’s Ben Shapiro, as well as Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine), argued that the presumption of innocence should have applied to Kavanaugh given the seriousness of the allegations and the consequences for the country if unproven accusations can bring down a public figure.

Kavanaugh was accused by three women of sexual misconduct that occurred in the 1980s, allegations he has denied.

Republican Senators who viewed the FBI’s report regarding its investigation of the accusations against him said there is no corroborating evidence to support the allegations, while Democrats said the investigation was too narrow in scope.

Cuomo on Wednesday played a clip of President Trump speaking to the importance of the presumption of innocence and saying Kavanaugh was proven innocent by the FBI, media and Senate Judiciary Committee’s intense scrutiny.

“It is a lie to say that the presumption of innocence applied here, because like I just said, we’re not in a court,” Cuomo said. “And Trump knew that this was going to be a political measure, so that’s a lie.”

“It’s a damn lie to say that he was found innocent,” Cuomo added. “We certainly don’t know to any certainty that Kavanaugh was blameless on all fronts.”

Kavanaugh was sworn in after he the Senate confirmed him, 50 to 48, in a mostly party-line vote.