WASHINGTON — Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh acknowledged Thursday he “might have been too emotional” when testifying about sexual misconduct allegations as he made a bid to win over wavering GOP senators on the eve of a crucial vote to advance his confirmation.
The 53-year-old judge said in an op-ed that he knows his “tone was sharp, and I said a few things I should not have said” during testimony last week to the Judiciary Committee. He forcefully denied the allegations.
“Going forward, you can count on me to be the same kind of judge and person I have been for my entire 28-year legal career: hardworking, even-keeled, open-minded, independent and dedicated to the Constitution and the public good,” he wrote in The Wall Street Journal.
Kavanaugh’s column appeared aimed at winning over the three GOP senators who remain undecided. He got an additional boost late Thursday from President Donald Trump, who praised his nominee’s “incredible intellect” and scoffed at detractors during a campaign rally in Minnesota.
Trump said the protesters and “their rage-fueled resistance is starting to backfire at a level nobody has ever seen before.” He was referring to polling that shows some improvement for Republicans heading into the midterm election.
Earlier Thursday, a pair of undeclared Republican senators accepted a confidential new FBI report into sex-abuse allegations against Kavanaugh as “thorough,” bolstering GOP hopes for confirmation as the Senate plunged toward showdown votes. One of the senators hinted he was open to supporting Kavanaugh as party leaders set a pivotal preliminary vote for 10:30 a.m. Friday. If that succeeds, a final roll call was expected Saturday.
Six days after Trump ordered the FBI to scrutinize the accusations— which allegedly occurred in the 1980s and Kavanaugh has denied — leading GOP lawmakers briefed on the agency’s confidential document all reached the same conclusion: There was no verification of the women’s past claims and nothing new.
Democrats complained that the investigation was shoddy, omitting interviews with numerous potential witnesses, and accused the White House of limiting the FBI’s leeway.