Republican senator taking heat for handling of hearing for reported Kavanaugh assault | Miami Herald

Many people on Twitter aren’t happy with how Sen. Chuck Grassley, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, is handling the hearing about allegations of sexual assault leveled against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.

Some complained about how Grassley interrupted Christine Blasey Ford, who accused the judge of sexual assault, and other women like Sen. Dianne Feinstein and Rachel Mitchell, the attorney hired by the GOP to question Ford.

While others took offense at Grassley’s opening statement when he said that both Kavanaugh and Ford have been through “a terrible couple of weeks.”

And others suggested that Grassley’s comments during the hearing displayed him in a negative light and helped Ford’s case.

That includes Joe Walsh, a former Republican congressman.

Kavanaugh was nominated to the Supreme Court by President Donald Trump on July 9 after Justice Anthony Kennedy announced his retirement. If confirmed by the Senate, Kavanaugh is expected to push the high court further to the right with his life-time appointment.

Earlier this month, Ford came forward and accused Kavanaugh of sexual assault, according to The Washington Post. She says while they were both in high school in 1982, Kavanaugh groped her and tried to rip off her clothes as he pinned her down on a bed.

Since Ford’s accusations, at least two other women have come forward with similar accusations. Julie Swetnick said in a document released by lawyer Michael Avenatti that she was at multiple parties with Kavanaugh where “disoriented” girls were drugged and then raped by a “train” of men, while Deborah Ramirez said in an interview with The New Yorker that the judge exposed his genitals at a party. The accusations are from incidents that were said to have happened in the 1980s.

The judge has denied the claims, saying in a Fox News interview that he has always respected women and was a virgin at the time of the accusations.