Gardner’s Hollow Words on Kavanaugh Accusers Exposed

Colorado Sen. Cory Gardner (R-Yuma) said on Monday that he “absolutely supports” a Senate investigation into claims from a Boulder woman who has levied sexual misconduct charges at Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.

But that was Monday. Today Gardner appeared at a press conference with Senate Republican leadership in which Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell essentially promised to ram through Kavanaugh’s SCOTUS confirmation regardless of any claims of sexual misconduct or assault.

Senator Cory Gardner (left) can’t separate himself from Senate Republican leadership on hearing out Kavanaugh accusers.

As Talking Points Memo reports:

“I believe he’ll be confirmed, yes,” McConnell said at a press conference at the Capitol,  when asked if he had the votes.

Earlier in the press availability, McConnell said he was “confident we’re going to win.”

Okay…but what about that not-so-insignificant matter of Thursday’s planned testimony from Christine Blasey Ford, who has accused Kavanaugh of sexual assault when they were in high school together? Back to TPM we go:

Asked if his language made it seem like he would not approach Blasey Ford’s testimony seriously, McConnell noted that few people were willing to testify under oath about the matter.

Regardless, all signs point to Republicans moving quickly after the hearing, to confirm Kavanaugh as quickly as next week.

“It is our plan to move forward in the very near future,” McConnell said.

If you’re wondering how McConnell, Gardner and pals could possibly just plow ahead with Kavanaugh’s confirmation at this point in time…well, you’re certainly not alone.

President Trump and other Republicans across the country are inflicting very real political damage on themselves with their awful comments about Kavanaugh’s accusers, and actions like today’s press conference telegraph the fact that Senate Republican leaders don’t actually care about what any of these alleged victims are saying.

11 Community Comments, Facebook Comments

    • MichaelBowman says:

      #RogueMelania has spoken…

      • JohnInDenver says:

        Wanted: attorney with experience to ask questions for a day.  The following members do not feel adequate to the task:

        • Senator Cornyn, elected twice to the Texas Supreme Court and one-time awardee of the Rape, Abuse, & Incest National Network (RAINN) “Crime Fighter Award,” doesn't want to ask questions.
        • Senator Crapo, graduate from Harvard Law School, Cum Laude, and years of experience as an attorney in Idaho, doesn't want to ask questions.
        • Senator Rafael Edward Cruz, top speaker in collegiate and international debate competitions and one-time Solicitor General who boasts of his appearances before the Supreme Court, doesn't want to ask questions.
        • Senator Flake, with 12 years in the House and 6 in the Senate, doesn't want to ask questions.
        • Senator Graham, with his experience on active duty and as a reserve called up to serve as an Air Force lawyer, doesn't want to ask questions.
        • Senator Hatch, whose biography page prominently features his "indispensable role in confirming Supreme Court Justices Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas, and Samuel Alito," doesn't want to ask questions.
        • Senator Kennedy, with a law degree from the University of Virginia and his B.C.L. degree from Oxford University in England where he was a First Class Honors graduate, and who has multiple years of practicing law, doesn't want to ask questions.
        • Senator Lee, with three federal court clerkships and years of appellate trial work, doesn't want to ask questions.
        • Senator Sasse, with a history Ph.D., years of experience as a business consultant focused on companies in crisis, and 5 years as a college president, doesn't want to ask questions.
        • Senator Tillis, "a top-level executive at PricewaterhouseCoopers and IBM," doesn't want to ask questions.
    • unnamed says:

      Bummer dude.  Your link doesn't work.

    • RepealAndReplace says:

      Didn't you say good bye to us yesterday? Back already?

    • mamajama55 says:

      Police report of the incident in question shows Polis defended himself from a former employee who tried to steal from his business. She was the only one charged with a crime, after Jared called the police for assistance in preventing her from leaving with his files. It could explain why KDVR took down the story.

      The restraining order was vacated 3 weeks later, as Hughes could not show cause why it should be in effect.

      What I’m interested to know is how much time did Hughes serve for trying to steal bags of files from Jared’s office? Did he press charges? I suspect not…he probably said, “She’s mentally ill and has an alcohol problem, and the police stopped her…let it go.”

    • JohnInDenver says:

      Unless Polis lied about it under oath at some point, why would he need to withdraw? 

      I'd also expect withdrawal if there was some sort of pattern of behavior he was unwilling to admit.

      Frankly, I'm less concerned about any problem with a governor, who will serve for a limited amount of time and be subject to a number of forms of oversight than I am about any Supreme Court Justice, with a lifetime appointment and no meaningful review beyond the faint impact of opinion from the legal community.

      But if your standard is one restraining order means withdrawal, I suspect you should have a call for withdrawal for any number of other politicians. I'd even be willing for you to simply call for the resignation of all of the state legislators who have an equivalent order or the more significant conviction (or two).

  1. JohnInDenver says:

    Sen. Cory Gardner gets a turn in the sun … DKos, quoting NBC.

    According to an anonymous complaint sent to Republican Sen. Cory Gardner of Colorado, Kavanaugh physically assaulted a woman he socialized with in the Washington, D.C. area in 1998 while he was inebriated.

    The sender of the complaint described an evening involving her own daughter, Kavanaugh and several friends in 1998.

    “When they left the bar (under the influence of alcohol) they were all shocked when Brett Kavanaugh, shoved her friend up against the wall very aggressively and sexually.”

    “There were at least four witnesses including my daughter.” The writer of the letter provided no names but said the alleged victim was still traumatized and had decide to remain anonymous herself.””

    I'm sure you'll be stunned to know Judge Kavanaugh denied it in a Tuesday midday phone call with the Judiciary Committee staff.

    • RepealAndReplace says:

      1998………

      Hmmm, what else was Brett Kavanaugh doing in 1998? Oh yes, he was sniffing around Monica Lewinsky's stained dress (metaphorically-speaking, of course) with Ken Starr.

      And for you trivia buffs who thought the Starr Report contained enough gratuitous references to sex acts beyond the denial of the blow job that formed the basis of the perjury charge, Kavanaugh apparently thought that Starr didn't go far enough in graphic details.

      As far as his boozing goes, they need to require him to blow into an Intoxilyzer tomorrow before they swear him in.

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