On Tuesday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “All In,” Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) stated that there should be an FBI background check in light of the allegations against Judge Brett Kavanaugh, Kavanaugh isn’t qualified “because of his record on women’s issues,” and she believes Kavanaugh’s accuser, Dr. Christine Blasey Ford.
Gillibrand said she thinks the hearing scheduled for Monday is “intended to be a sham hearing. Because they only want a he said/she said scenario. In fact, they should be allowing the FBI to do a complete background check now that they have this allegation, which has not been done, which is the normal course for any Supreme Court nominee.”
She later said of Kavanaugh, “I don’t think he’s qualified because of his record on women’s issues, specifically. He doesn’t believe that women should have the ability to make decisions about their reproductive freedom. He believes that your boss should decide whether or not you have access to birth control. And if he has this history, then he is unfit for the court, and he doesn’t have the character or integrity.”
Gillibrand concluded by stating of Ford, “I believe her. Her story is credible. If you listen to everything about it, the fact that she told her therapist about it five years ago, a friend most recently, she told a reporter before Kavanaugh was even named to be a nominee. This is a woman who has endured trauma, and — as experts have said, this is what trauma looks like. These — it gets relived much later in time. A lot of — you don’t remember everything, you remember the most poignant moments.”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett