Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) told CNN on Monday that he wants a fair hearing to take place for Judge Brett Kavanaugh and his accuser but he doesn’t want it to happen too fast because he is still sore that the Democrats did not get Merrick Garland confirmed to the Supreme Court under former President Barack Obama.
Appearing on CNN’s “New Day” with co-host John Berman, Durbin indicated that he is in no rush to have public hearings for Kavanaugh and his accuser, Christine Blasey Ford.
“We have to do our job on the Judiciary Committee, be fair to both. Be fair to the judge, be fair to Dr. Ford, make sure the facts are before the American people so they understand we’ve asked the right questions,” Durbin said.
“At the beginning of this interview, you seemed to suggest that having this testimony public this week might be too soon, too fast,” Berman responded.
“No question that it is,” Durbin responded. “There have been suggestions, well, let’s just have a conference call with the chairman of the committee and perhaps Senator Feinstein. They can talk to the people and that will be the end of it. I don’t think that’s sufficient. And the statement by Miss Katz this morning, representing Dr. Ford, says that she is prepared to testify publicly.”
Berman then presented a hypothetical situation for Durbin, asking him what his thoughts would be if Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley said he was clearing the calendar to have both parties testify tomorrow.
“I don’t know that that’s fair,” Durbin whined. “I really don’t. Think about this. We kept the Supreme Court vacancy open for 400 days because Senator McConnell would not allow Merrick Garland to even have an appointment, the Supreme Court nominee of President Obama, 400 days. And now they’re telling us this is a matter of hours, we’ve got to get this done in hours.”
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