7 Reactions to the Kavanaugh Sexual Misconduct Allegations
Collins and Murkowski: Democrats handled this unfairly
Much of the conversation about the Kavanaugh confirmation has centered on the votes of two key Senators, Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska. The two women are moderates and supportive of abortion rights. Their votes are critical in that the Republicans have only a 51-seat majority in the upper chamber and can afford only one defection without any other votes from Democrats to confirm him. Neither had indicated how they intended to vote.
Collins said Sunday that she was "surprised" by the allegations against the judge and criticized the way the Democrats handled the matter.
"What is puzzling to me is the Democrats, by not bringing this out earlier, after having had this information for more than six weeks, have managed to cast a cloud of doubt on both the professor and the judge," the Maine senator told The New York Times.
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"If they believe Professor Ford, why didn't they surface this information earlier so that he could be questioned about it?"
She added: "And if they didn't believe her and chose to withhold the information, why did they decide at the 11th hour to release it?"
"It is really not fair to either of them the way it was handled."
Before the accuser came forward, Collins asked Kavanaugh about the then anonymous allegation last week during a phone call. Kavanaugh "was emphatic in his denial" that it ever happened.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif. was aware of the accuser's claim since July when she received a letter from Ford but never brought it up with Kavanaugh in any of the meetings or hearings. The accuser had requested anonymity at the time.
When asked by CNN about the allegations and whether the Judiciary Committee should delay a vote late Sunday, Murkowski said: "I think that might be something they might have to consider, at least having that discussion."
