In an impassioned statement delivered during Brett Kavanaugh’s Thursday hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina lambasted his Democratic colleagues for concealing the allegations of sexual assault levied by Christine Ford.
“If you wanted an FBI investigation you could have come to us. What you want to do is destroy this guy’s life, hold this seat open, and hope you win in 2020. You’ve said that, not me,” Graham shouted. “This is the most unethical sham since I’ve been in politics and if you really wanted to know the truth, you certainly wouldn’t have done what you did to this guy.”
“Boy y’all want power, God I hope you never get it. I hope the American people can see through this sham, that you knew about it and you held it, you had no intention of protecting Dr. Ford, none!” he added. “I hate to say it because these have been my friends, but if you were looking for a fair process, you came to the wrong town at the wrong time.”
"This is not a job interview, this is hell" – Senator Lindsey Graham offers strong support to US Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh https://t.co/aWkMrEnAg6 #KavanaughHearings pic.twitter.com/bd5dplVjkp
— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) September 27, 2018
Graham has spoken out repeatedly against Senator Dianne Feinstein of California, the ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, and her decision to conceal Ford’s allegations from the time she received a letter detailing them in July until roughly two months later.
“I’m really upset that they knew about this in August and never told anybody,” Graham told reporters outside the hearing room following Ford’s testimony Thursday. “I’m really upset that [Feinstein] believed this was a credible allegation, [and] that you wouldn’t do Mr. Judge Kavanaugh the service of saying, ‘I’ve got this, what’s your side of the story.’”