Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh has endured three grueling days of interrogation by the Senate Judiciary Committee in hearings marred by constant interruptions from liberal protesters and Democrats playing camera-grabbing parliamentary tricks to try and derail the hearings.
But by the conclusion of the third day of questioning it became clear that Kavanaugh would survive the confirmation hearings, especially when he featured, as guests in the first row behind him, his daughters and the other members of their Catholic school basketball team that he helped coach.
According to the U.K. Daily Mail, Kavanaugh greeted all of the teammates during a break in the hearing and then took a moment to introduce them all by name once the hearing resumed.
That was quite possibly the high point of the entire three days of hearings, as the rest were marred by Democrat delay tactics and angry outbursts from protesters hidden in the audience.
Booker’s “histrionics”
Thursday’s hearings began with Democrat New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker making a big deal out of how he was “breaking the rules” by releasing “confidential” documents about Kavanaugh, emails from the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attack that Booker insinuated proved Kavanaugh was a racist.
But the emails about racial profiling security procedures showed Kavanaugh wasn’t in favor of such tactics, and it turned out later that Booker had permission to release the documents all along, rendering his bold move little more than an empty political stunt.
“We were surprised to learn about Senator Booker’s histrionics this morning because we had already told him he could use the documents publicly,” said Bill Burck, a Republican attorney overseeing the release of Kavanaugh-related documents from the presidential records of former President George W. Bush.
Pointed questions
The nominee also faced incredibly loaded questions from Democrats on topics ranging from abortion rights to whether he would be independent of President Donald Trump’s influence while on the high court.
This, again, while the proceedings were repeatedly interrupted by outbursts of protest from members of the crowd inside the committee room.
But both the protests and Democrats’ delay tactics failed to derail the hearings and were ultimately dismissed by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who said the “unhinged antics” of both groups were powerless to stop Kavanaugh’s confirmation and that “there’s no hecklers’ veto” on this nomination.
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Kavanaugh is expected to receive a full confirmation vote on the Senate floor in the coming weeks.
Many conservatives hope he will be confirmed in time to assume his seat on the Supreme Court prior to the new session beginning on Oct. 1.