In an interview with Yahoo News, Booker said he supported the idea of a Kavanaugh perjury investigation.<\/b>
\nDES MOINES, Iowa \u2014 New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker said on Sunday the possibility of impeaching Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh shouldn\u2019t be off the table if Democrats take one of the houses of Congress in next month\u2019s midterm elections. Kavanaugh was confirmed on Saturday by a narrow vote following a contentious process that included multiple sexual assault allegations.
Other Democrats have raised the possibility of impeaching Kavanaugh over allegations that he committed perjury in his hearing at the Senate Judiciary Committee, on which Booker sits. News accounts have quoted acquaintances who contradict Kavanaugh\u2019s testimony about his behavior as a young man, and evidence has surfaced calling into question some of his assertions about his time in the George W. Bush administration, but Kavanaugh insists he told the truth. Impeachment would require the Democrats to win a House majority and control that chamber\u2019s judiciary committee. The question would then go to trial in the Senate.
\u201cThe reality is, right now, Republicans control the House and the Senate, and there\u2019s no way to do even an investigation unless we flip one of the houses. So I think even before you start focusing on questions about his truthfulness before a Senate committee, you\u2019ve got to focus on the urgency of the work over the next 30 days, and that\u2019s where my focus is,\u201d Booker said.
Booker spoke to Yahoo in Iowa, where he is making multiple campaign appearances in support of Democratic congressional candidates. He said he is working to help secure a Democratic majority. After the midterms, Booker said, the party can determine what its priorities should be.
\u201cI think that after the dust settles on the night of the 6th, I think that\u2019s where we start to evaluate\u2026 what is the best thing for us to be focusing on in terms of what\u2019s best for America and the American people,\u201d Booker said.
Booker\u2019s emphasis on the midterms echoed a speech he made at the Iowa Democratic Party\u2019s fall gala Saturday night after his arrival in the state was delayed by the Kavanaugh vote on the Senate floor. In those remarks, Booker struck a hopeful note and urged Democrats who are \u201cangry\u201d and \u201cupset\u201d to \u201cstay faithful.\u201d He also cautioned members of the party against being \u201ccaught up in a state of sedentary agitation\u201d and urged them \u201cnot to wait for the hope, but to be the hope.\u201d In one of his calls to electoral action, Booker referenced comments President Trump made last week mocking one of Kavanaugh\u2019s accusers, Dr. Christine Blasey Ford.
\u201cWe\u2019re not defined by a president who mocks a hero in Dr. Blasey Ford. We\u2019re not defined by a president who does not believe women. We\u2019re going to be defined when this state says not only do we believe women, we elect women!\u201d Booker said.
The bar for impeachment is very high, and it has happened to a sitting Supreme Court justice only once in American history. Impeachment first requires a House vote. If a majority of House members vote to impeach, the Senate holds a trial to weigh the charges. Conviction and removal from office requires a 67-vote supermajority in the Senate.
Democrats have a strong chance of taking the House in the midterms. Rep. Jerrold Nadler of New York, who would most likely become chair of the House Judiciary Committee if the Democrats have a majority, has said he supports the idea of investigating Kavanaugh for perjury, which could begin an impeachment process. However, Democrats have much slimmer chances of taking control of the Senate, and there is no way they will come close to 67 seats.
The perjury allegations against Kavanaugh come from three things: his denials of all the sexual assault accusations levied against him, his claims about his youthful drinking and evidence that he lied under oath during prior confirmation hearings.
During his Supreme Court confirmation testimony, which was under penalty of perjury, Kavanaugh said he \u201cnever blacked out\u201d while drinking as a young man. Since then, multiple people who knew Kavanaugh in college have come forward to say they witnessed Kavanaugh \u201cstumbling drunk.\u201d
The allegations about previous perjury by Kavanaugh emerged based on emails from his time working on President George W. Bush\u2019s White House staff that were released as part of his Supreme Court confirmation process. Those messages indicate Kavanaugh had received Democratic strategy memos that had been stolen in the early 2000s. In confirmation hearings held in 2004 and 2006 when Kavanaugh was nominated to federal judgeships, he denied receiving those memos.
An FBI investigation into the sexual assault allegations was authorized by the White House after the Republican leadership of the Senate Judiciary Committee requested it. The White House limited the scope of the investigation and insisted that it be completed in seven days; the FBI ultimately finished after five days.
Republicans have called the FBI investigation a thorough exoneration. Booker, who read the FBI\u2019s full report on the probe, said it was unsatisfactory.
\u201cI think the way the FBI was limited in their investigation was a sham. There were so many things even in the handful of interviews they did do that would have motivated investigators to ask more questions, interview more people,\u201d Booker said. \u201cClearly the FBI was severely constrained in the scope of their investigation in a way that did not honor the courage of the survivors who came forward.\u201d
Booker noted that the FBI did not interview \u201cmultiple people\u201d named by one of Kavanaugh\u2019s accusers, Deborah Ramirez, as able to corroborate her claims that Kavanaugh had exposed himself to her at a party when they were both students at Yale. Booker said there were \u201ca number of things that the FBI could have easily investigated to see if he was lying about his past conduct.\u201d
He said he supported further investigation of Kavanaugh.
\u201cIf there is conclusory evidence that shows unequivocally that he lied to a Senate committee, that is a crime and he should be held accountable for those criminal acts,\u201d Booker said.
Booker has made campaign appearances around the country during this election cycle. However, Iowa holds unique importance as an early presidential primary state, and this trip was Booker\u2019s first visit to the state during this cycle. Booker\u2019s appearance here fueled speculation he might mount a White House bid in 2020. Yahoo News asked Booker if he would support renominating President Barack Obama\u2019s last Supreme Court pick, Merrick Garland, who was blocked by Republicans. Booker brushed off the question about presidential politics.
\u201cThat\u2019s a speculative hypothetical,\u201d Booker said. \u201cI can\u2019t even engage with it. The reality is, I\u2019m the senator from New Jersey. With 30 days before the election, my focus is the work before us.\u201d
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