Saturday, September 22, 2018

Latest update on the continued drama of Crazy Christine Ford

From what can be deciphered from all of the available information, we know this:
  • That the Senate Judiciary committee and representatives for Ford spoke for about 15 minutes
  • That the Senate Judiciary committee agreed to push back the hearing from Wed to Thurs.
  • That the previous agreements regarding a pool camera, additional security, and that neither Kavanaugh or Ford will be present when the other testifies are still in place (but being offered by some in the media as new concessions).
  • That the same sticking points exist regarding the request by Ford's legal team that she testify second, that the questions are not asked by counsel, that there be certain limits as to what can be asked, as well as their desire to subpoena Mark Judge.  
Nobody on either side has issued any statements, although the White House has offered that the two sides appeared no closer to an agreement than they were previously. That statement came out at just a few minutes ahead of the media reports, so it would appear that the President was informed of the details (or lack of details) just before the generic reports were provided to the media.

I have to sort of agree that until there is an actual agreement, that there is no actual agreement, and if all that was settled on was an agreement to extend both the hearing and the deadline, that we are probably no closer than we were yesterday. In fact, it would appear to be just another day of stalling by the Ford team.

Grassley's arguments about having counsel question Ford, not limiting those questions, as well as Kavanaugh testifying second are simply no-brainers. He should not (under any circumstances) give up the ship on any of those demands. Kavanaugh has rights here as the accused, and it's up to Grassley and the GOP to protect those rights.

As far as subpoenaing Mark Judge, that would be a tough call. He doesn't appear to have much information to provide about the actual assault, and this is not a legal hearing. My best guess is that Ford's counsel would like someone who might slip up and say something damaging, and they know it's not likely that Kavanaugh would do so.

But Mark Judge is also an American citizen, and there are rules in place as to who you can subpoena and why. None of those legal reasons would apply to this situation. It would quite literally be an infringements of his constitutional rights to be pulled into this circus for the sake of being some sort of "target"of the Ford attorneys. Grassley by all ethical and legal accounts should hold his ground on that one as well. 

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