CNN anchor and former Obama official Jim Sciutto downplayed the gang rape allegations against Judge Brett Kavanaugh as “politics”on Thursday.

WATCH:

CNN political commentator Scott Jennings defended Kavanaugh’s anger during last week’s Senate Judiciary Committee hearing about sexual assault allegations, noting that Kavanaugh spent 12 years on the DC Circuit Court of Appeals with no temperament issues. (RELATED: Ted Lieu Says Kavanaugh Testimony Proves He’s An Angry Drunk)

“This guy is getting up and going to work every day as a federal judge,” Jennings said. “That’s where you should judge his temperament.”

“To be honest with you, I think Judge Kavanaugh reacted exactly the way most Americans would react to being smeared,” Jennings added.

Sciutto cut Jennings off and asserted that allegations of sexual assault, gang rape, and drunken debauchery come with the territory of being nominated to the Supreme Court.

“I gotta challenge that, Scott. Let me challenge that, because it’s become a talking point,” Sciutto said. “Here’s the difference, Scott. This is a person … being considered for a lifetime position.”

“The fact is, this is Washington, this is politics,” Sciutto claimed. “Political candidates have been accused of horrible things for years, and it becomes – how do you respond to that?”

“Gang rape?” Jennings exclaimed with shock.

Julie Swetnick, who is represented by celebrity lawyer Michael Avenatti, claims that she attended multiple parties in the 1980s where she witnessed Kavanaugh and his friend Mark Judge waiting in line for gang rapes.

No other witnesses have come forward to corroborate Swetnick’s story, and Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy said this week that she ought to be referred to the FBI for making false statements under oath. (RELATED: GOP Senator: Refer Julie Swetnick To The FBI For Making False Statements)

“A criminal referral should be sent to the FBI/DOJ regarding the apparently false affidavit signed by Julie Swetnick that was submitted to the Senate by @MichaelAvenatti,” Cassidy tweeted Tuesday.

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