Steven H. Aden, J.D.

Events around the Kavanaugh nomination to the Supreme Court are happening so fast, it’s hard to keep up with them. Shortly after yesterday’s Kavanaugh Column was posted, Senate Republicans agreed to a one-week postponement of the Senate vote on the nomination. President Trump followed shortly thereafter with an announcement that he is directing the FBI to conduct […]

This afternoon, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted to refer Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court to the full Senate. As expected, the vote was 11-10 along party lines, with all Senate Republicans backing Kavanaugh and all Democrats voting against him. All eyes are now on an expected vote by the full Senate this Tuesday, […]

More than one participant (including Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh) described today’s hearing as a “circus.” With respect to the contestants, that is too light a term, since there was nothing amusing about it. Today’s Senate Judiciary Committee hearing could be best described as a “gladiatorial pit.” Nothing new was said by either Dr. Christine Blasey […]

Whoever said “politics is blood sport” (attributed to 20th Century Welsh politician Aneurin Bevan) wasn’t kidding. Thursday’s fifth, and presumably final, day for the hearing on Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court is set to go, with, it seems, half the country ready to “believe the woman” and half the country believing that Judge […]

Thursday’s special session of the confirmation hearing for Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh before the Senate Judiciary Committee is beginning to shape up. Judge Kavanaugh and his accuser, Christine Blasey Ford, will both appear before the committee, with Ford testifying first. According to a statement by the committee today, the members of the committee will not ask […]

According to the New Yorker magazine, a second woman, Deborah Ramirez, now claims that Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her. Ramirez told the New Yorker that Kavanaugh exposed himself to her during a drinking party when they were both Yale freshmen. Ramirez has not made a statement to the Senate Judiciary Committee, and she admits that her […]

There will be time, there will be time To prepare a face to meet the faces that you meet; There will be time to murder and create, And time for all the works and days of hands That lift and drop a question on your plate…. T.S. Eliot, The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock (1920) The time […]

Friday at 10:00 a.m. is the deadline set by the Senate Judiciary Committee for a commitment and written proffer of testimony by Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, the woman who alleges that Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her at a high school party over thirty-five years ago. Dr. Ford’s attorney said Thursday it was “not possible” for […]

All eyes are on the Senate Judiciary Committee today, as Chairman Charles Grassley  announced today that the committee will need to hear from Dr. Ford with written testimony by Friday, in order to proceed with the Monday hearing.  Grassley has invited Dr. Ford to testify in public or in a private closed-door hearing. To date, Ford […]

The Kavanaugh Column reported yesterday that Christine Blasey Ford, the Palo Alto, California psychology professor who accuses Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of assaulting her at a high school party when they were teenagers, had said through her attorney that Ford was prepared to testify under oath before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Committee Chairman Charles Grassley has set […]

Surely Yogi Berra wasn’t thinking of the explosive mix of sex and politics that boils up in the headlines on a too-regular basis when he coined this famous quip, but for many who’ve followed the high-stakes political games that are played around Supreme Court nominations, it’s 1991 all over again. Last Friday, the Kavanaugh Column reported on […]

As the date of Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s expected Senate Judiciary Committee vote next Thursday approaches, a whiff of whispered scandal now infects his nomination process. The story broke yesterday that Senator Dianne Feinstein of California has referred a letter regarding Kavanaugh from a constituent in California to the FBI. Feinstein has refused to show the […]

Like several other Senate Democrats, Indiana Democratic Senator Joe Donnelly is feeling the heat from the Kavanaugh confirmation vote. Donnelly is in a statistical dead heat against businessman Mike Braun for his Senate seat this November. The Hoosier State is reddest in Fort Wayne, and the News-Sentinel yesterday called on Donnelly to vote to confirm Kavanaugh. The more progressive Indianapolis Star […]

Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia is in a tough election race this fall. Real Clear Politics polling has him with an uncomfortable lead against his Republican opponent, and Manchin is running hard. President Trump won the Mountaineer State in 2016 with a whopping 68.5%, the largest margin of victory for any presidential candidate in the state’s […]

This week, the Kavanaugh Column is taking a closer look at the undecided senators in the middle of the Kavanaugh confirmation fight, two pro-abortion Republicans and three Democrats who are from strongly pro-life states. Alaska Republican Lisa Murkowski steps into the spotlight today.  “Have Senate Democrats already lost on Kavanaugh?”, asked Vanity Fair yesterday. The magazine cites […]

With the conclusion of the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination, relative calm has again settled over the Tidal Basin here in Washington. No damaging testimony emerged from the hearing (unless you count self-inflicted damage by senators opposed to Kavanaugh), and committee Democrats scored no “gotcha” moments. The countdown begins to the […]