What to watch for in today’s hearing
From CNN’s Eric Bradner
Live on national television, the California professor who alleges President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee sexually assaulted her as a teenager will tell her story — and Brett Kavanaugh will face tough questions about whether it is true.
Here’s what to watch in Thursday’s hearing:
- What Ford will say: President Trump, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and other Republicans have cast Ford’s allegation as part of a Democratic smear campaign intended to thwart Kavanaugh’s confirmation.
- What Kavanaugh says — and how he looks: Kavanaugh plans to tell senators that he “said and did things in high school that make me cringe now” — but that he “never did anything remotely resembling what Dr. Ford describes.” But it’s not just Kavanaugh’s words that matter: It’s the optics.
- The prosecutor: Republicans tapped Rachel Mitchell, an Arizona sex crimes prosecutor, to ask questions on their behalf Thursday. And little is known about how she plans to approach the hearing.
- The swing vote: Sen. Jeff Flake is an undecided Republican on the Judiciary Committee who is retiring and has made an enemy of Trump. His reaction to Thursday’s testimony could be the clearest immediate indicator of Kavanaugh’s fate.
- Democrats’ questions: Though Ford is the only accuser testifying, three women have made allegations against Kavanaugh. Democrats are likely to grill Kavanaugh on all of their allegations and the corroborations from some of their friends and classmates, as well as his drinking habits in high school and college.
- Republicans’ behavior: The midterm elections are less than six weeks away, and Republican candidates across the country will be holding their breaths Thursday. Their hope is to avoid any moments that would make the 11 white, male GOP members of the committee look callous toward survivors of sexual assault — which would be disastrous for the party’s hopes of holding onto control of the House and the Senate in November.
Today is the Kavanaugh-Ford hearing
From CNN’s Eric Bradner
Christine Blasey Ford will air her allegation of sexual assault against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, and Kavanaugh will defend himself, as the nation watches Thursday’s extraordinary Senate Judiciary Committee hearing.
Here’s what we know about how it will play out:
- The hearing will start at 10 a.m. ET.
- Ford will testify first, followed by Kavanaugh.
- Each senator will get five minutes to ask questions and can hand that duty off to another senator or a staffer.
- Republicans have hired a sex crimes prosecutor, Rachel Mitchell, to ask questions on their behalf.
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