«Kavanaugh must not be considered until the Mueller investigation is complete.»
Justin Sullivan/Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen pleaded guilty, and former Trump aide Paul Manafort was convicted of charges on the same day just two weeks before Judge Brett Kavanaugh is set to go through a Supreme Court confirmation hearing, a hearing that some believe should no longer happen.
Two of the counts Cohen pleaded guilty to involve payment during the 2016 election to two women that claim to have had affairs with President Donald Trump, payments Cohen said were directed by the president.
Cohen’s lawyer, Lanny Davis, tweeted Tuesday that “if those payments were a crime for Michael Cohen, then why wouldn’t they be a crime for Donald Trump?”
These senators have since spoken out about postponing the confirmation hearing.:
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.)
Judge Kavanaugh’s refusal to say a POTUS must comply w a duly issued subpoena & Mr Cohen’s implication of POTUS in a federal crime make the danger of Kavanaugh’s nomination to the SCOTUS abundantly clear.
It’s a game changer & Chairman Grassley should delay confirmation hearings
— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) August 22,2018
Sen. Cory Booker (D-N. J.)
Trump’s personal lawyer has sworn under oath that POTUS directed him to commit a federal crime.
The Senate must reject any SCOTUS nominee from a president who is an alleged criminal co-conspirator—especially when that nominee may rule to protect Trump from any accountability.
— Cory Booker (@CoryBooker) August 22,2018
Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.)
Americans don’t want a president who is an unindicted co-conspirator in a crime to have the power to appoint someone to the Supreme Court. We should not proceed with Judge Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearings.
— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) August 22,2018
Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.)
As of yesterday, the President is now the equivalent of an unindicted co-conspirator in a criminal act. Kavanaugh must not be considered until the Mueller investigation is complete. To do otherwise would taint the legitimacy of the Supreme Court.
— Senator Jeff Merkley (@SenJeffMerkley) August 22,2018
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.)
After bombshell convictions of key Trump cohorts—& identification of President Trump as an unnamed, unidicted co-conspirator—Judiciary Committee must postpone Kavanaugh nomination hearing.
— Richard Blumenthal (@SenBlumenthal) August 22,2018
These senators not only spoke out against the hearing but canceled their planned meetings with Kavanaugh:
Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii)
I have cancelled my meeting with Judge Kavanaugh. @realDonaldTrump, who is an unindicted co-conspirator in a criminal matter, does not deserve the courtesy of a meeting with his nominee—purposely selected to protect, as we say in Hawaii, his own okole.
— Senator Mazie Hirono (@maziehirono) August 22,2018
Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.)
I will not take a meeting with Brett Kavanaugh. He has been nominated by someone implicated, and all but named as a co-conspirator, in federal crimes.
His nomination is tainted and should be considered illegitimate.
— Ed Markey (@SenMarkey) August 22,2018
Despite these calls, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said during Wednesday’s press briefing that the confirmation hearing will begin as planned on Sept. 4 and that Kavanaugh will be present.
Press secretary Sanders calls some Democrats’ calls to delay Kavanaugh confirmation hearing after Manafort, Cohen developments “a desperate and pathetic attempt by Democrats to obstruct a very highly-qualified nominee.” https://t.co/GHE1e5PlVv pic.twitter.com/3aZ6jyLGOG
— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) August 22,2018
Trump refused to acknowledge that what Cohen pleaded guilty to are even crimes in the first place.
“Michael Cohen plead guilty to two counts of campaign finance violations that are not a crime,” he tweeted Wednesday.
