“He has been nominated by someone implicated, and all but named as a co-conspirator, in federal crimes.”

Democrats have been looking for something – anything – to block the confirmation of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. They think they’ve found justification based on this week’s news about Paul Manafort and Michael Cohen.

The talking points have clearly gone to the extreme. John Bowden reports at The Hill:

Dem senator cancels Kavanaugh meeting amid calls for confirmation hearing to be postponed Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) said Wednesday that she would cancel a meeting with President Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh, after Trump’s former personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, implicated the president in a hush money scheme. “I am canceling, I will be canceling, my appointment with Judge Kavanaugh because I choose not to extend a courtesy to this president who is an un-indicted co-conspirator … of meeting with his nominee,” she told reporters. Hirono also blasted Kavanaugh as “a nominee who is being nominated because the president expects him to protect [Trump].”

Erin Kelly of USA Today has more:

Dems call for delay in Kavanaugh vote after Manafort conviction and Cohen guilty pleas Democratic senators are using the news of Paul Manafort’s criminal convictions and Michael Cohen’s guilty pleas as a reason to try to delay a confirmation vote on Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh… White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders called the meeting cancellations “a desperate and pathetic attempt by Democrats to obstruct a very highly qualified nominee.” George Hartmann, a spokesman for Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, noted that Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer was confirmed by the Senate while then-President Bill Clinton’s records were subpoenaed by a grand jury in the Whitewater investigation.

I have cancelled my meeting with Judge Kavanaugh. @realDonaldTrump, who is an unindicted co-conspirator in a criminal matter, does not deserve the courtesy of a meeting with his nominee—purposely selected to protect, as we say in Hawaii, his own okole. — Senator Mazie Hirono (@maziehirono) August 22, 2018

Hirono is joined by a chorus of other Senate Democrats:

President Trump is an unindicted co-conspirator to a federal crime to influence an election for the office he now holds. He should not be allowed to name a Supreme Court Justice without resolving this accusation first. — Kamala Harris (@SenKamalaHarris) August 22, 2018

I will not take a meeting with Brett Kavanaugh. He has been nominated by someone implicated, and all but named as a co-conspirator, in federal crimes. His nomination is tainted and should be considered illegitimate. — Ed Markey (@SenMarkey) August 22, 2018

The President of the United States has been implicated in a criminal plot to violate campaign finance laws & influence the outcome of an election. Under no circumstances should we be considering his nomination of Judge Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court in just one week. — Richard Blumenthal (@SenBlumenthal) August 22, 2018

Judge Kavanaugh’s refusal to say a POTUS must comply w a duly issued subpoena & Mr Cohen’s implication of POTUS in a federal crime make the danger of Kavanaugh’s nomination to the SCOTUS abundantly clear. It’s a game changer & Chairman Grassley should delay confirmation hearings — Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) August 22, 2018

Schumer pushed this talking point on the Senate floor yesterday. David Rutz of the Washington Free Beacon:

Democrats Push for Delay to Kavanaugh Hearings Following Cohen’s Guilty Plea: ‘It’s a Game Changer’ Senate Democrats are calling for the Judiciary Committee to postpone Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court confirmation hearings following Michael Cohen’s guilty plea on Tuesday and implication of President Donald Trump in a campaign finance violation. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) called the case a “game changer” in a speech on the Senate floor on Wednesday. He slammed Kavanaugh for what he characterized as having radical views on the extent of presidential authority, and he said Kavanaugh’s “refusal” to say a president must comply with a subpoena makes it dangerous to confirm the Supreme Court nominee, especially given Cohen’s implication of Trump.

Watch below:

This is nothing more than political opportunism by a party that’s desperate to stop a judicial appointment. If it wasn’t Manafort and Cohen, it would have been something else.



