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Sen. Dianne Feinstein
- On Friday morning, Sen. Dianne Feinstein condemned Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh's behavior during his Senate testimony on Thursday.
- During his four-hour testimony, Kavanaugh called the sexual misconduct allegations against him "a calculated and orchestrated political hit" and accused Democrats of using him to take "revenge on behalf of the Clintons."
- Feinstein said Kavanaugh's partisan attacks on the Judiciary Committee Democrats should disqualify him from sitting on the nation's highest court.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, condemned Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh's behavior during his Senate testimony on Thursday, during which he defended himself against sexual misconduct allegations.
During four hours of emotional, combative testimony, Kavanaugh described the allegations against him - which have been made by three women - as "a calculated and orchestrated political hit" and a "coordinated and well-funded effort to destroy my good name and to destroy my family." He also suggested that the attacks on him are Democrats taking "revenge on behalf of the Clintons."
During a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Friday morning, Feinstein said Kavanaugh's partisan attacks and combative responses to Democrats' questions on Thursday were unprecedented for a presidential nominee.
"Candidly, in the 25 years on this committee, I have never seen a nominee for any position behave in that manner," Feinstein said. "Judge Kavanaugh used as much political rhetoric as my Republican colleagues and what's more, he went on the attack."
The senator went on to say that Kavanaugh's performance on Thursday should disqualify him from sitting on the nation's highest court.
"This was not someone who reflected an impartial temperament or the fairness and even-handedness one would see in a judge," she said. "This was someone who was aggressive and belligerent. I have never seen someone who wants to be elevated to the highest court in our country behave in that manner."
By contrast, Feinstein argued, Christine Blasey Ford - who also testified on Thursday concerning her allegations that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her as a teenager - "was poised, she was credible, and she should be believed."