Kellyanne Conway: Christine Blasey Ford "absolutely was wronged" but not by Kavanaugh
The Senate Judiciary Committee will proceed with a vote on Brett Kavanaugh's Supreme Court nomination Friday morning after a highly-charged day of testimony from Kavanaugh and Christine Blasey Ford who accuses him of sexually assaulting her in high school. Kavanaugh has denied all allegations.
Kellyanne Conway, a counselor to President Trump, told "CBS This Morning" Friday that she found Ford's testimony "compelling" and "very sympathetic." She added that it seems Ford, who alleges Kavanaugh pinned her to a bed, groped her over her clothes and attempted to take them off at a house party in 1982, "absolutely was wronged by somebody" but that person was not Kavanaugh.
"He wasn't there. I have said from the beginning, it may turn out that they're both right, that she was sexually assaulted but that he had nothing to do with it. And I think America saw that yesterday. I don't know why also that we have to look at every woman automatically as a victim if you're a woman and a man as a bad perpetrator," Conway said.
Following Thursday's hearing, the American Bar Association pressed the Senate Judiciary Committee to delay Kavanaugh's confirmation process so the FBI would have time to do a more thorough background check. Kavanaugh did not agree to request an FBI investigation despite repeated calls for one from Democratic senators during the hearing. Republicans and Kavanaugh argue that an FBI investigation wouldn't yield any conclusions, merely a report of its findings.
"The FBI has conducted…six successful vettings of Brett Kavanaugh throughout his career. He's raised his right hand many times taking an oath to the Constitution, swearing to uphold the law, and the most recent vetting of Brett Kavanaugh occurred this summer," Conway said. "So that vetting result is on the desk of every Democratic senator. They ought to open up and look at it because they're not going to find anything there that would cast doubt except for the most hardened partisan against Judge Kavanaugh's nomination."
Despite the bitter partisan battle that played out Thursday, Conway insisted that Kavanaugh will be able to maintain impartiality as a Supreme Court justice should he be confirmed.
"People have never questioned his judicial temperament and his decisions. He's authored 300 opinions. These senators yesterday could have talked about that. Instead, they were talking about a paragraph in a high school yearbook. So I believe once he gets to the Supreme Court, he will call the balls and strikes fairly," Conway said. "They [Democrats] abused him for their own purposes"
"Yesterday's hearing, if it had to happen, was very elucidating for the country. But it never had to have happened….I feel like this was mishandled from the Democrats from the beginning who could have been asking Judge Kavanaugh and Dr. Ford questions in a much less public setting," Conway said.