There will most likely be a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing to examine the claims being made against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh by California professor Christine Blasey Ford, but the discussion won't be as aggressive as that when Anita Hill testified against now Justice Clarence Thomas, Judge Andrew Napolitano said Monday.
"Republicans have to decide how aggressively do they want to pursue her," said Napolitano, Fox News' chief judicial analyst, on "America's Newsroom."
"I don't think they engage in the type of destructive cross examination the late Arlen Specter, a former district of Philadelphia before he was a senator from Pennsylvania, did to Anita Hill."
In the "me too" era, he added, we deal with these allegations more gingerly," he added. Ford has claimed that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her more than three decades ago, when they were both in high school.
"The other side of this is Judge Kavanaugh who says this did not happen, it absolutely did not happen," said Napolitano. "This is not a court of law...this is the court of public opinion."
Kavanaugh has been examined by the FBI for six federal background checks, noted Napolitano, including for his work for former President George W. Bush in the White House and in his preparation for a possible seat on the Supreme Court.
"Sen. Dianne Feinstein, why did she sit on this since July?" said Napolitano. She'll say I was protecting the reputation and identity of this woman who didn't want me to reveal it who wanted me to know about it. It comes out suddenly and here we are."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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