It’s truly amazing to witness how fast the liberal narrative changes in a week. Last Tuesday, ABC’s World News Tonight was deeply frightened by the idea that the 11 Republican men on the Senate Judiciary Committee would be asking the questions to Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s accuser, Dr. Christine Blasey Ford. This Tuesday, they did a complete 180 and were huffing about the panel hiring a female lawyer to ask their questions for Thursday’s scheduled hearing.
Just last week, sensationalist anchor David Muir was concerned about “[h]ow will this accuser be treated [by GOP Senators] if she does testify?” But tonight, he was opposed to those Senators rejecting her ridiculous demands:
All of the Republicans on the committee are men and there is word tonight that they've now hired a woman, an attorney, to ask the questions for them. Dr. Ford had argued those Senators should have to ask her the questions themselves.
Of course, there was no mention that Ford had demanded that she not be sworn in under oath when giving her testimony, which has been seen as a red flag by many.
Towards the top of her report, bitter Congressional correspondent Mary Bruce decried how many of the GOP Senators had made up their minds already. “But even before they hear one word of testimony from Christine Blasey Ford, it's clear many top Republicans have already made up their minds,” she bemoaned.
There was no such concern from Bruce when Senate Democrats like Kirsten Gillibrand (NY) and Mazie Hirono (HI) had declared Kavanaugh guilty. Yet, she was obsessed with why committee Republicans hired the female lawyer. Of course, she alluded to sexism (click “expand” to read):
BRUCE: Does it have anything to do with the fact that all the Republicans on the committee are men?
SEN. JOHN KENNEDY: Not for me, but I can't speak for my other colleagues. But I am a man, that's a fact.
BRUCE: Democrats a skeptical.
SEN. KAMALA HARRIS: Clearly, they didn’t want to ask the questions directly.
BRUCE: Republican Bob Corker says GOP Senators on the committee need to protect themselves from themselves.
SEN. BOB CORKER: I think it's really smart of them to get outside counsel.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Why?
CORKER: Somebody will do something that you guys will run 24/7 and you know, inadvertently somebody will do something that's insensitive.
“This prosecutor will be leading the charge for all of the questioning on the Republican side, though Senators tell us they may still jump in from time to time,” Bruce concluded.
While CBS Evening News may not have shown quite the same level of concern for GOP questions as ABC did last week, they were critical this Tuesday. “Today, the 11 Republican men who sit on the Senate Judiciary Committee announced they have hired an unnamed female lawyer to question Ford at the hearing for them,” reported congressional correspondent Nancy Cordes. “Ford has repeatedly requested not to be grilled by a lawyer.”
The transcripts are below, click "expand" to read:
ABC's World News Tonight
September 25, 2018
6:39:31 p.m. EasternDAVID MUIR: There is another major development on this. Judge Kavanaugh and his first accuser, Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, will sit before the Judiciary Committee, before the American people Thursday morning, taking questions, both of them. All of the Republicans on the committee are men and there is word tonight that they've now hired a woman, an attorney, to ask the question for them. Dr. Ford had argued those Senators should have to ask her the questions themselves. And ABC's Mary Bruce up on the hill on that.
[Cuts to video]
MARY BRUCE: As Republican leaders rally around Judge Kavanaugh, one key Republican senator, Lisa Murkowski, is sending her own party a clear message.
LISA MURKOWSKI: It's very important to take allegations of those we forward, to take them seriously.
BRUCE: Murkowski says she is undecided, telling The New York Times “it's about whether or not Judge Kavanaugh is qualified. It is about whether or not a woman, who has been a victim at some point in her life, is to be believed." But even before they hear one word of testimony from Christine Blasey Ford, it's clear many top Republicans have already made up their minds.
MITCH MCCONNELL: I'm confident we're going to win. I’m confident he will be confirmed in the very near future.
BRUCE: Today, Republicans on the Judiciary Committee, all of whom are men, announced they've hired an outside counsel, a woman, to question Ford and Judge Kavanaugh on Thursday. Does it have anything to do with the fact that all the Republicans on the committee are men?
SEN. JOHN KENNEDY: Not for me, but I can't speak for my other colleagues. But I am a man, that's a fact.
BRUCE: Democrats a skeptical.
SEN. KAMALA HARRIS: Clearly, they didn’t want to ask the questions directly.
BRUCE: Republican Bob Corker says GOP Senators on the committee need to protect themselves from themselves.
SEN. BOB CORKER: I think it's really smart of them to get outside counsel.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Why?
CORKER: Somebody will do something that you guys will run 24/7 and you know, inadvertently somebody will do something that's insensitive.
[Cuts back to live]
MUIR: So much debate on this on both sides. Mary Bruce live from the hill tonight. So Mary, just to clarify here, Republicans have hired that female attorney to ask questions on their behalf, not just o Dr. Ford, but of Judge Kavanaugh, as well, and this is so the Senators won't have to ask the questions themselves?
BRUCE: Yeah, David. This prosecutor will be leading the charge for all of the questioning on the Republican side, though Senators tell us they may still jump in from time to time. Now, we still don't know who this attorney is. Her identity is being protected tonight for her own security. Now, on the Democratic side, those Senators will still be doing their own grilling.
CBS Evening News
September 25, 2018
6:34:39 p.m. EasternJEFF GLOR: We are going to move now to some news just in. The Senate Judiciary Committee has announced it will vote on Brett Kavanaugh's nomination to the Supreme Court on Friday morning at 9:30 eastern time. That is less than 24 hours after Kavanaugh and Christine Blasey Ford testify before the panel, or are scheduled to testify. She accuses him of sexually assaulting her when they were teenagers. Today, the President stepped up his defense of Kavanaugh after another accuser came forward. Here's Nancy Cordes.
[Cuts to video]
DONALD TRUMP: The second accuser has nothing. The second accuser doesn't even know-- she thinks maybe it could have been him, maybe not. She admits that she was drunk.
NANCY CORDES: Republicans, starting with the President, took on both Christine Blasey Ford and Deborah Ramirez today.
SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM: It's okay to challenge the accuser.
CORDES: Questioning their facts and their motivations. So you think these women are making it up?
SEN. JIM INHOFE: They had a little help, I have a feeling.
CORDES: Ford is set to testify in two days. She says Kavanaugh held her down and groped her in high school.
JUDGE BRETT KAVANAUGH: I was not at the party described. I was not anywhere at any place resembling that in the summer of 1982.
CORDES: Today, the 11 Republican men who sit on the Senate Judiciary Committee announced they have hired an unnamed female lawyer to question Ford at the hearing for them.
ORRIN HATCH: I think that's an appropriate way to do it.
CORDES: Ford has repeatedly requested not to be grilled by a lawyer. The trial-like setup is normally reserved for rare, complex legal hearings like Watergate.
(…)
CORDES: And impeachment. Republicans say hiring a woman lawyer is the respectful thing to do. Will Democrats follow suit?
SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER: Our senators are not afraid, as the Republicans seem to be, to confront this situation and deal with the truth.
CORDES: Democrats are still pushing for an FBI background investigation. Today, Alaska's Lisa Murkowski became the first Senate Republican to agree with them.
LISA MURKOWSKI: An investigation would certainly-- certainly clear up some of the questions that are out there.
CORDES: She and her GOP colleagues have been hounded by anti-Kavanaugh protesters.
PROTESTORS: We believe survivors. We believe survivors.
CORDES: They forced Ted Cruz and his wife to leave a D.C. restaurant. And interrupted Lindsey Graham during an interview with us. [Slight chuckle]
GRAHAM: And Democratic Senators, apparently, urged the second accuser to come forward.
PROTESTOR: A real investigation.
[Cuts back to live]
GLOR: So, Nancy, Christine Blasey Ford is testifying on Thursday. What about the second accuser that we just talked about?
CORDES: Well, committee Republicans tell us they have reached out to the attorney for Deborah Ramirez asking if she'd like to provide a statement or any additional evidence to back up her claim that Kavanaugh exposed himself to her at a Yale University party. So far, Jeff, they tell us they have not gotten much of a response.
