Dianne Feinstein Admits Coordinating with Anti-Trump Parkland Dad Before Kavanaugh Hearing

Dianne Feinstein, Fred Guttenberg
AP/Getty Images
Joshua Caplan

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) revealed Tuesday evening Parkland father Fred Guttenberg, who attempted to shake Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh’s hand during his confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, was invited by herself.

“I invited @Fred_Guttenberg to sit in the audience at today’s hearing because the Supreme Court affects the lives of real people,” Feinstein wrote on Twitter “He knows firsthand how Brett Kavanaugh’s extreme views on guns could lead to more massacres. Thank you Fred, for honoring your daughter.”

Moments later, Fred Guttenberg, father of slain Parkland student Jaime Guttenberg, confirmed his acceptance of Feinstein’s invitation to the hearing and dismissed accusations that his attempt to shake the nominee’s hand was a political stunt.

“To be clear, I was invited by Senator Feinstein to attend today. Anyone who knows me knows I will talk to anyone,” he tweeted. “I initiated an effort to introduce myself to Kavanaugh. It was my decison and I own it. Anyone trying to come up with some politial master plan is simply wrong.”

Guttenberg attempted to shake Kavanaugh’s hand after committee members took a recess around noon. Shortly after the incident, Guttenberg claimed in a tweet that Kavanaugh “turned his back to me and walked away,” suggesting he didn’t shake his hand because the Judge “did not want to deal with the reality of gun violence.”

Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA), who repeatedly called for the hearing to be adjourned over late-arriving documents, took to Twitter to criticize the Judge’s non-handshake. “If Kavanaugh won’t even give him a handshake, how can we believe he would give gun violence victims a fair shake in court?” she wrote.

In a brief statement posted to social media, the White House denied Guttenberg’s portrayal of the sequence of events. “As Judge Kavanaugh left for his lunch break, an unidentified individual approached him. Before the Judge was able to shake his hand, security had intervened,” tweeted White House Principal Deputy Press Secretary Raj Shah.

As Breitbart News Senior Editor-at-Large Joel Pollak noted, footage captured by ABC News appears to corroborate the White House’s account.

Afterward, Guttenberg announced he was scheduled to appear on CNN and MSNBC’s The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell later in the evening.

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