People in the Donald Trump White House have been leaking information to the Washington Post again.
According to confidential sources who spoke to the Post over the weekend, Trump’s Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh is struggling with certain questions concerning his personal life.
The questions are being raised during the sessions being conducted by the White House Counsel’s office to help get Kavanaugh ready for his testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday.
The committee will also hear testimony on Thursday from Dr. Christine Ford who has accused Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her when they were both in high school in Maryland. Ford claims that the Supreme Court nominee was drunk and tried to rip her clothes off and rape her.
To get more stories like this, subscribe to our newsletter The Daily.
Kavanaugh has of course denied Ford’s allegations but he will have to testify under oath and he is expecting some tough questions.
According to the leakers in the White House, questions about his personal life are causing him a great deal of difficulty. The sources have said that Kavanaugh becomes very frustrated while practicing for his testimony regarding Ford’s sexual assault allegations.
According to the Post article:
Kavanaugh grew very frustrated when it came to questions that dug into his private life, particularly his drinking habits and his sexual proclivities, according to three people familiar with the preparations, who requested anonymity to discuss internal deliberations. He declined to answer some questions altogether, saying they were too personal, these people said.
“I’m not going to answer that,†Kavanaugh said at one point according to a senior White House official, who said that the questions were designed to go over the line and that he struck the right tone.
According to the Post, Kavanaugh has been in contact with Republican senators on the Judiciary Committee to find out what questions he will face and to urge them to support him publicly. The paper indicated that he was not comfortable discussing certain topics, saying:
“Kavanaugh has complained about the stories focusing on his family and has grown ‘incredibly frustrated’ at times, in the words of one associate, but he has not sought to drop out of the running, two people who spoke to him said.â€
It is clear that all of the public scrutiny and media attention is getting to Judge Kavanaugh. He may actually crack under pressure when he gives his public testimony on Thursday. He knows the world will be watching him, and he also knows the truth of what he did to Christine Ford when she was a 15 year old girl.
It is still possible that Kavanaugh will pull his name from consideration for the Supreme Court because he no longer wants to go through this ordeal. That would probably be the right answer for him — and for the country.
I am a lifelong Democrat with a passion for social justice and progressive issues. I have degrees in writing, economics and law from the University of Iowa.
