GOP Plans to Play Hardball on Kavanaugh

Jonathan Swan: “Strategists advising Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh plan to use aggressive tactics this week in response to the public accusation of a ‘stumbling drunk’ sexual assault in high school that instantly imperiled his confirmation.”

“Some involved in the process are going to urge Senate leaders to call on the accuser — Christine Blasey Ford, who went on the record with The Washington Post‘s Emma Brown — to testify publicly this week, ahead of Thursday’s scheduled Judiciary Committee vote. This gambit basically bets that she will decline, and Republicans can then say that they tried to investigate further.”

“A source close to the process said that if Democrats sink Kavanaugh ‘we’ll just bring in someone moreconservative.'”

Debra Katz, Ford’s attorney, told CBS News that Senate Republicans intend to “play hard ball” with her client as they prepare to move ahead with Kavanaugh’s confirmation to the Supreme Court.