***Live Updates*** Brett Kavanaugh Confirmation Hearings Conclude

The confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh wrap up today as character witnesses will testify for and against Kavanaugh’s nomination.

Stay tuned to Breitbart News for live updates. All times eastern.

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4:15 PM: Record will be open until Monday as the hearings come to a close.

4:05 PM: Sen. Kennedy asking law professors about the constitutionality of the Chevron standard.

4:00 PM: Blumenthal says there is a cancer on the presidency that is “malignant” and it is “metastasizing.” He and Dean praise the anonymous NYT op-ed and Blumenthal says he hopes more can come forward. Dean previously implied that he think Trump does not have any respect for the rule of law while Nixon did.

3:10 PM: Professor Lisa Heinzerling concerned about Kavanaugh and administrative law while Adam Smith praises Kavanaugh on administrative law. 

3:07 PM: Rebecca Ingber, Boston University law professor, in favor of international law to check presidential power. Concerned about Kavanaugh’s views on executive power.

3:00 PM: Paul Clement speaks highly about Kavanaugh’s judicial temperament and his experiences observing Kavanaugh on the federal bench.

2:55 PM: John Dean says if Kavanaugh joins the court, it will be the most presidential-powers friendly court in the modern era. He says he doesn’t think Kavanaugh believes Nixon v. U.S. was correctly decided.

2:52 PM: D.C. real estate agent Monica Mastal testifying about “coach K” (coached her daughter)–says her testimony will not be from a legal perspective but about Kavanaugh the man. She says Kavanaugh teaches much more than the fundamentals of basketball.

2:50 PM: Last panel testifying. John Dean, Paul Clement among those on the panel.

2:30 PM: While most Senators just thank the children for testifying and sharing their experiences, Blumenthal of course can’t help himself and asks leading anti-Kavanaugh questions to Parkland survivor Eastmond, who speaks out about the need to ban “assault weapons.” Blumenthal says he hopes Kavanaugh is listening.

2:20 PM: Mahoney says it would be a travesty if Kavanaugh did not get confirmed unanimously while Kramer, the public defender, speaks again about Kavanaugh’s fairness re: criminal justice cases. Kramer says he has the same views on the unfairness of America’s criminal justice system as Booker.

2:00 PM: Maureen E. Mahoney, former Solicitor General, praises Kavanaugh and Kenneth Christmas, a lifelong Democrat and former law school classmate, speaks about Kavanaugh’s humanity, about how Kavanaugh took time to listen to and understand Christmas’s points of view and experiences as a black man living in America. He says it is Kavanaugh’s humanity that compelled him to testify on behalf of Kavanaugh.

1:41: Hunter Lachance, a Maine student who suffers from asthma, is not testifying about the need for air pollution to decrease. He is concerned if Kavanaugh is confirmed, air pollution in Maine will increase.

1:36: Thirteen-year-old Jackson Corbin, a Noonan Sydrome advocate, speaks about living with his pre-exiting conditions and struggles with Noonan Syndrome. He talks about the importance of Obamacare for his family and wants to speak for children with healthcare needs who are not able to speak for themselves. He says the country needs Justices on the Supreme Court who will “save the Affordable Care Act.”

1:30 PM: Former Kavanaugh clerk Rebecca Tableson says the motto in Kavanaugh’s chamber is “Process Protects Us.” Speaks about Kavanaugh’s record of hiring women law clerks and going to bat for them after. She says she doesn’t know of a judge who supports women in the legal profession more than Kavanaugh.

1:17 PM: Parkland survivor Aalayah Eastmond now testifying about surviving the shooting and says if Kavanaugh did not have the decency to shake the hand of the father of the Parkland survivor (left has tried to hype this up all week), then he won’t have the decency to understand gun violence.

1:11 PM: Federal Public Defender A.J. Kramer testifying for Kavanaugh. He says Kavanaugh has always been fear, especially in criminal cases.

1:08 PM: Next panel of witnesses about to testify.

12:27 PM: Hirono asking Murray about the contradictions in Garza/Priests for Life.

12:16 PM: Harris accuses Kavanaugh of “dog whistles.” She is talking about “abortion on demand” and “racial spoils system” again claims it is a “loaded” term. Richmond keeps talking about Harvard being investigated re: affirmative action, and it seems like Richmond doesn’t seem to care about discrimination against other groups. Harris goes to Murray after Richmond brings up Harvard, but would have been interesting to hear what she would have said had the discussion continued about Harvard’s admission practices (Harris, especially being from the Bay Area, knows one of the only issues that has motivated Americans of Asian descent to get involved in politics in the Bay Area/CA = affirmative action).

12:09 PM: Booker now makes an appearance and seems thrilled to talk to a fellow ally like Murray. He has four more likeminded allies on the panel. He asks Murray about the Garza case and wonders what excuse Kavanaugh had to write his dissent. Booker asking Murray and Garza whether they think Kavanaugh was signaling with “abortion on demand” to get on Supreme Court. Booker says “this was like fiction” what was presented to the Committee. Richmond talks about “living while black” since Trump has been president–says being African-American makes you a suspect in the age of Trump. Earlier, Booker tried to rehabilitate Richmond’s earlier remarks about “equal and opposite force.” Booker asks if Richmond meant that force is a equal and opposite positive force and not one that discriminates or is racist against other groups.

12:03 PM: Drama Queen Blumenthal thanks Richmond for staying strong during this “dark and dangerous” time for democracy.

11:55 AM: Coons teeing up questions for Murray for her to answer that Kavanaugh is not like Kennedy re: substantive due process.

11:50 AM: Coons and Richmond turn the discussion to affirmation action. Richmond says the only way to stop racism is with an “equal and opposite force.” He claims affirmative action is that force even though it can be used to discriminate against others.

11:45 AM: Amar says Kavanaugh will be better than what Democrats may think on Voting Rights, the Reconstruction Amendments. He says Kavanaugh is the type of person who will bring out the best in other judges.

11:32 AM: Whitehouse won’t let the recusal question go.

11:26 AM: Klobuchar ready to lob softballs to Richmond on voting rights. Richmond talking about the Section 5 preclearance provision of the 1965 Voting Rights Act and the “race the legislature” after Shelby was decided.

11:18 AM: Feinstein says a lot about the Garza case troubles her and again talks about the “death toll” from the 50s (women going to illegal abortionists and dying) and does not want to see the country go back to those days. She is also speaking about “weapons” being an issue in the Kavanaugh vote.

11:11 AM: Olson says that lawyers who have appeared before Kavanaugh have had nothing but respect for him, his fairness. He says he does not know a lawyer or judge who is more uniformly respected than Kavanaugh.

11:03 AM: Next up is Akhil Reed Amar, Yale Constitutional Law professor, for Kavanaugh. He says he is the “best choice from the wrong choice” and praises Kavanaugh’s knowledge of the Constitution. Amar is a Hillary Clinton supporter. He says Kavanaugh is the best nominee on the horizon.

10:58 AM: NYU Law Professor Melissa Murray, a former Sotomayor clerk, says Kavanaugh would threaten “reproductive rights.” Gives left-wing lecture like what one would hear at a place like Berkeley. She says Kavanaugh would “utterly eviscerate” the right to an abortion. Says vote for Kavanaugh is a “vote against Roe.”

10:51 AM: Colleen E. Roh Sinzdak, Kavanaugh’s former student at Harvard, is a registered Democrat who clerked for Merrick Garland. She speaks of Kavanaugh’s commitment to helping those starting out in the legal profession and commitment to advancing racial/gender diversity.

10:45 AM: Alicia Baker says she fears that if Kavanaugh is elected, women will not be able to get birth control because of the religious beliefs of their employers. She says she is a “pro-life Christian.”

10:36 AM: Former Solicitor General Ted Olson speaking in support of Kavanaugh. He says he has known Kavanaugh for two decades and has the qualities that would make him a solid Supreme Court Justice as protesters interrupt.

10:28 AM: Rep. Cedric Richmond (D-LA), the Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, now testifying. Richmond says the Supreme Court has acted when Congress neither had the courage nor the will to act re: civil rights issues.

He says Trump is trying to “pack the court” with “proven intolerant bigots” who embrace ideologies at the “fringes of mainstream legal thought.”

He says he cannot overstate what is at stake for African-Americans. Talks about affirmative action, voting rights, education, criminal law. He says Kavanaugh represents a “grave danger” to many legal frameworks that have helped African-Americans.

10:24 AM: Elizabeth Weintraub, an advocate for people with disabilities, accuses Kavanaugh of having “low expectations” for people like her with disabilities (cerebral palsy). She says she is worried that if Kavanaugh is confirmed, her right to make decisions for herself will be taken away.

10: 18 AM: Next up is Louisa Garry, Kavanaugh’s college friend from Yale. She says her “enduring” friendship with Kavanaugh may surprise people because they some different views. She talks about her experience training Kavanaugh for the Boston Marathon and running it with him together numerous times.

10:13 AM: Rochelle Garza, the immigration attorney who represented the illegal immigrant “Jane Doe” teenager (Garza v. Hargan) who wanted an abortion while in government custody, is now speaking against Kavanaugh.  She speaks about the “unbearable” way in which Jane was treated and the “pain” she suffered is “impossible to describe.” She claims she can see “nothing more American” than what she saw in Jane.

10:09 AM: First up is former Kavanaugh law clark (2013-2014) Luke McCloud. He says Kavanaugh is a fair-minded and independent judge. He says Kavanaugh did not want clerks who reflexively agree with him. He points out that Kavanaugh wanted a diverse groups of law clerks–ideological, background, racial.

He points out that the percentage of Kavanaugh’s clerks that have been minorities is unheard–McCloud says he is a minority who has benefited and says he would not have applied for his Supreme Court clerkship had Kavanaugh not encouraged him to do so.

10:05 AM: Panel II will now testify. Grassley says it will consist of five witnesses for the majority and five for the minority.

10:01 AM: Tarpley says he did not see a “pattern” in Kavanaugh’s decision except for “allegiance to the law” and “adherence to precedence” in response to Whitehouse’s questions.

9:55 AM: Senators who love to hear themselves talk more than others stand out, and Blumenthal promptly tries to get the duo to slam Trump for his attacks on the judiciary. He says he hopes they can agree with him that Trump’s attacks on the judiciary do a “disservice.”

9:48 AM: Graham will start off with questions. Graham says Kavanaugh sounds like a “great judge” but a “lousy politician.” Tarpley says Kavanaugh got an A++ integrity rating and is “at the top of the stream” when asked if Kavanaugh is a “mainstream” judge.

9:43 AM: Tarpley, the lead evaluator, says the committee did not consider Kavanaugh’s ideology or political views. Rather, the ABA’s evaluation was based on a “comprehensive, nonpartisan, non-ideological” review. He says Kavanaugh’s “integrity” was unquestioned and praises Kavanaugh’s morality and ethics. He glowingly speaks about Kavanaugh’s “professional competence,” saying it exceeds what is required of a Supreme Court Justice. He speaks about Kavanaugh’s “good sense of humor” and how a diverse group of ABA lawyers rated him as unanimously well qualified.

9:40 AM: Moxley, the ABA chair, says his non-ideological group unanimously determined that Kavanaugh got the highest ranking possible–“unanimously well qualified.” He says Kavanaugh got the highest rating possible after contacting 500 people and conducting nearly 125 interviews.

9:35 AM: The American Bar Association’s Paul T. Moxley (chair) and  John R. Tarpley (principal evaluator) will be the first two witnesses. Feinstein says she doesn’t have any questions but thanks them for the work the ABA does and says  she pays close attention to their recommendations. The ABA determined that Kavanaugh is “well qualified” for the Supreme Court.

9:31 AM: Grassley gavels in the final day of hearings. He points out there have been nearly 34 hours of testimony and Kavanaugh has proven that he is one of the most qualified nominees.