NOW

Sept 27, 2018

Kavanaugh: Yes.

Feinstein: All three of these women have asked the FBI to investigate their claims. I listened carefully to what you said. Your concern is evident and clear. And if you’re very confident of your position, and you appear to be, why aren’t you also asking the FBI to investigate these claims?

Kavanaugh: Senator, I’ll do whatever the committee wants. I wanted a hearing the day after the allegation came up. I wanted to be here that day. Instead, 10 days passed where all this nonsense is coming out, you know, that I’m in gangs, I’m on boats in Rhode Island, I’m in Colorado, you know, I’m sighted all over the place. And these things are printed and run, breathlessly by cable news. You know, I wanted a hearing the next day. I — my family’s been destroyed by this, senator, destroyed!

Feinstein: And — and I’m — and I’m very…

Kavanaugh: And — and whoever wants — you know whatever the committee decides, you know, I’m — I’m — I’m all in.

Feinstein: But the question is…

Kavanaugh: Immediately. I’m all in immediately.

Feinstein: …know. And the terrible and hard part of this is when we get an allegation, we’re not in a position to prove it or disprove it; therefore, we have to depend on some outside authority for it. And it would just seem to me, then, when these allegations came forward, that you would want the FBI to investigate those claims and clear it up once and for all.

Kavanaugh: Senator, the committee investigates. It’s not for me to — to say how to do it. But just so you know, the FBI doesn’t reach a conclusion. They would give you a couple 302s that just tell you what we said. So I’m here. I wanted to be here — I wanted to be here the next day. It’s an — it’s an outrage that I was not allowed to come and immediately defend my name, and say I didn’t do this, and give you all this evidence. I’m not even — I’m not even in D.C. on the weekends in the summer of 1982. This happened on a weekday? Well, is it — when — when I’m not at a Blair High School for a summer league game, I’m not at Tobin’s house working out, I’m not at a movie with Suzanne? You know, I wanted to be here right away.

Feinstein: Well, the difficult thing is that it — the — these hearings are set and — set by the majority. But I’m talking about getting the evidence and having the evidence looked at. And I don’t understand — you know, we hear from the witnesses. But the FBI isn’t interviewing them and isn’t giving us any facts. So all we have…

Kavanaugh: You’re interviewing me!

Feinstein: …is what they say.

Kavanaugh: You’re interviewing me! You’re — you’re doing it, senator. I’m sorry to interrupt…

Feinstein: Well…

Kavanaugh: …but you’re doing it. That’s — the — the — there’s no conclusions reached.

Feinstein: And — and what you’re saying, if — if I understand it, is that the allegations by Dr. Ford, Ms. Ramirez and Ms. Swetnick are — are wrong?

Kavanaugh: That — that is emphatically what I’m saying! Emphatically! The Swetnick thing is a joke! That is a farce!

Feinstein: Would you like to say more about it?

Kavanaugh: No.

Feinstein: OK. That’s it. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Kavanaugh: Senator, Mark Judge was…

Leahy: To your knowledge, is that you that he’s talking about?

Kavanaugh: I’ll explain it if you let me.

Leahy: Proceed, please.

Kavanaugh: Mark Judge was a friend of ours in high school who developed a very serious drinking problem, an addiction problem that lasted decades and was very difficult for him to escape from. And he nearly died. And then developed — then he had leukemia as well, on top of it. Now, as part of his therapy — or part of his coming to grips with sobriety, he wrote a book that is a fictionalized book and an account. I think he picked out names of friends of ours to throw them in as kind of close to what — for characters in the book. So, you know, we can sit here…

Leahy: So you don’t know — you don’t know whether that’s you or not?

Kavanaugh: … we can sit here and you like, make — make fun of some guy who has an addiction.

Leahy: I’m not making…

Kavanaugh: I don’t think that really makes — is really good…

Leahy: Judge Kavanaugh, I’m trying to get a straight answer from you under oath. Are you Bart O’Kavanaugh that he’s referring to, yes or no? That’s it…

Kavanaugh: You’d have to ask him.

Leahy: Well, I agree with you there. And that’s why I wish that the chairman had him here under oath… We got a filibuster but not a single answer.

Kavanaugh: Senator, I was at the top of my class academically, busted my butt in school. Captain of the varsity basketball team. Got in Yale College. When I got into Yale College, got into Yale Law School. Worked my tail off.

Whitehouse: And did the world “ralph” you used in your yearbook…

Kavanaugh: I already — I already answered…

Whitehouse: …refer to alcohol?

Kavanaugh: …the question. If you’re…

Whitehouse: Did it relate to alcohol? You haven’t answered that.

Kavanaugh: I like beer. I like beer. I don’t know if you do…

Whitehouse: OK.

Kavanaugh: …do you like beer, Senator, or not?

Whitehouse: Um, next…

Kavanaugh: What do you like to drink?

Whitehouse: Next one is…

Kavanaugh: Senator, what do you like to drink?

Kavanaugh: No, I — no. I remember what happened, and I think you’ve probably had beers, Senator, and — and so I…

Klobuchar: So you’re saying there’s never been a case where you drank so much that you didn’t remember what happened the night before, or part of what happened.

Kavanaugh: It’s — you’re asking about, you know, blackout. I don’t know. Have you?

Klobuchar: Could you answer the question, Judge? I just — so you — that’s not happened. Is that your answer?

Kavanaugh: Yeah, and I’m curious if you have.

Klobuchar: I have no drinking problem, Judge.

Kavanaugh: Yeah, nor do I.