Senator Chris Coons (D-DE) gave an interview on Tuesday where he defended Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) over how she handled the allegations against Brett Kavanaugh.

For the last few days, Feinstein and her colleagues have faced criticism because of the apparent political timing with which they released Christine Ford‘s allegation she was assaulted by Kavanaugh. When asked about this on Morning Joe, Coons defended Feinstein for honoring Ford’s previous request to remain anonymous, and he said that a media leak forced Feinstein to handle things the way she did.

“I respect that Senator Dianne Feinstein was principally respecting repeated assertions by her attorney that Dr. Ford wanted to remain anonymous. I believe it was a leak to the media that compelled this. It was a leak to the media of the underlying that forced Senator Feinstein’s hand.”

Coon said he didn’t know who might’ve leaked the letter, but “my hunch is that there were folks on committee staff who had seen the letter and I don’t know whether the chairman of the committee had been told about it or seen the letter.”

Yesterday, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley announced there will be a hearing next week where Kavanaugh and Ford will be given a chance to tell their sides of the story from their alleged encounter together.

Watch above, via MSNBC.

[Image via screengrab]

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