Senate panel to vote Friday on sending Kavanaugh nomination to full Senate
WASHINGTON - Republican senators say the Judiciary Committee plans to vote Friday morning on Brett Kavanaugh's nomination to the Supreme Court.
Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, the second ranking-Republican, had said Thursday that the GOP conference would meet and "see where we are." They later announced that they still intended to vote Friday on Kavanaugh.
Kavanaugh and a woman accusing him of sexual assault, California psychologist Christine Blasey Ford, spent hours testifying Thursday before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
A Democratic senator who is undecided on Kavanaugh's nomination to the Supreme Court says she needs to "fully digest" the committee hearing on a sexual assault allegation against him.
Sen. Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota praised the "courage" of Christine Blasey Ford, who testified to the Senate that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her in a bedroom when they were teens. Kavanaugh in his own testimony denied ever sexually assaulting anyone.
Heitkamp also said it was important that the Senate Judiciary Committee heard Kavanaugh's side of the story.
She stressed that a nonpartisan FBI investigation should be conducted to "bring greater clarity" to Ford's claim and Kavanaugh's denial.
Heitkamp is running for re-election this year in a state where President Donald Trump is popular, and she is under pressure over her vote on Kavanaugh. She is facing Rep. Kevin Cramer in a race seen as critical for Republicans' chances to keep the Senate.
A lawyer for Mark Judge says he "does not recall the events" described by Ford during her dramatic testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Judge's lawyer, Barbara Van Gelder, said Thursday that he "does not want to comment about these events publicly" and "will not respond to any media inquiries."
Van Gelder says Judge "is willing to answer written questions, and he has. In addition, he is willing to participate in a confidential, fact-finding investigation."
Kavanaugh has denied Ford's allegation.
President Donald Trump is backing Kavanaugh, calling the judge's testimony during a Senate hearing "powerful, honest, and riveting." Trump is declaring, "The Senate must vote!"
Trump defended his nominee on Twitter on Thursday shortly after the extraordinary hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee concluded.
The president says the Democrats' "search and destroy strategy is disgraceful and this process has been a total sham and effort to delay, obstruct, and resist."