ICYMI – Schumer On ABC’s The View: “I Believe Professor Ford”; Schumer Urges Republicans Not To Rush Through Nominee And Says FBI Should Complete Full Investigation Before Both Judge Kavanaugh And Prof. Ford Testify Before Senate Judiciary Committee
Schumer: “I believe Professor Ford. I think she's credible and I think when the investigation is finished and when she testifies and Judge Kavanaugh testifies, I think a majority of senators will find her credible.”
Schumer: “Senator Feinstein did the right thing. When a woman is abused, it is her prerogative as to how, where, when, if at all it should come out.”
Schumer: “Trying to rush this through on Thursday is an insult to the women of America and an insult to the majesty of the Supreme Court of the United States.”
Washington, D.C. – Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer appeared live on ABC’s The View this morning to discuss the nomination of Judge Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court and the recent allegations made against him, among other issues. In the interview, Leader Schumer said that he believes Professor Christine Blasey Ford’s allegations against Judge Kavanaugh and that the FBI should conduct and complete an investigation to supplement their background check of the nominee, before both Judge Kavanaugh and Professor Ford testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
A partial transcript of Leader Schumer’s interview is below and the full video of the interview can be found here.
Transcript from ABC’s The View [9/17/2018]
Joy Behar: Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. So Senator, I don't know if you were watching the "Hot Topics."
Schumer: I was.
Behar: But we were talking about the sexual misconduct allegations against the Supreme Court nominee, Judge Kavanaugh. And he says that he is willing to testify before the Senate.
Schumer: Yes.
Behar: His accuser has taken a lie detector test. I suggested that he take one too. Do you agree?
Schumer: Well, however the – we believe here – let me just say this – I think.
Behar: That’s just part one of my question.
Schumer: I think the allegations of Professor Ford are extremely credible. She took a lie detector test. She talked to this to her therapist. They were having family counselling in part because of what happened to her five years ago and told all the details. And third, to come out and say something like this puts you and your family through incredible scrutiny. People throw brick bats at you and everything else. She didn't do it on a whim. I don't think she did it for political reasons. She has a great deal of credibility.
Behar: She’s a reluctant witness which is even better.
Schumer: Exactly. She said, “Don’t make it public, I just think the committee ought to know.’ Then it leaked and she said, ‘Make it public.’ I don't think the allegation that this is political at all. Senator Feinstein did the right thing. When a woman is abused, it is her prerogative as to how, where, when, if at all it should come out.
Abby Huntsman: When did you first hear the letter that Feinstein got?
Schumer: I heard about it, she told all the Judiciary Committee members about a week ago.
Huntsman: Only about a week ago?
Schumer: About a week ago.
Huntsman: You met with him one-on-one for 90 minutes on August 21st?
Schumer: Yes.
Huntsman: At that point you knew nothing?
Schumer: I didn’t know nothing. No one knew anything. Look, the FBI didn’t know anything. They do something called a background check, and they thoroughly go over nominees for the Supreme Court. But they didn't know about this until the letter was filed by Senator Feinstein. I think it was last Friday. So they should re-open that background check.
Huntsman: Why did she sit on it for so long? She had it in July.
Schumer: Because Professor Ford asked her not to and you have to respect that. I do. It's the right thing.
Behar: What about the 174,000 pages, what about those? There's 174,000 pages on Kavanaugh we haven't seen. No one's seen them.
Schumer: There are several issues. There's this issue, and we ought to get to the bottom of it. As I said, I believe Professor Ford. I think she's credible and I think when the investigation is finished and when she testifies and Judge Kavanaugh testifies, I think a majority of senators will find her credible. I never thought Kavanaugh should get appointed because he was picked by a president who said, ‘I'm only going to pick someone who repeals Roe v. Wade’ and vetted by a group whose mission was that. The president said, ‘I'm only going to pick someone who repeals health care,’ and he was vetted by another group, The Heritage Foundation. So I said he shouldn't be on the bench before this but now we got to get to the bottom of this and even more people I think will end up with me.
Huntsman: I agree with you, and I think there are a number of reasons why we should believe this woman and they're very serious accusations. I'm with you on that. I still struggle with why this wasn't brought out sooner. Did she say in the letter or who she gave it to, ‘don't bring this up to anyone?’
Schumer: Yes.
Whoopi Goldberg: That’s exactly what she said. She said it in the letter.
Schumer: She said it in the letter. And what her lawyer has said…
Behar: Why don't we put Dianne Feinstein in jail because she didn't do it at the right time? Who cares? I'm kidding.
Schumer: Here's what her lawyer said. Her lawyer said she did not want to see this man go to the Supreme Court given what he had done to her, but the lawyer said she didn't want to make it public. She has two children. I don't really know their ages. She didn't want her name to be public. She didn't want to be stalked.
Huntsman: But the story itself, Dianne Feinstein could have brought it up to Kavanaugh.
Schumer: I think Joy or Whoopi said and the phrase I was looking at, everyone has said, ‘this is a lot of bunk.’
Goldberg: So here's my question and I'm taking it kind of away from that but not really. John Conyers, Al Franken did much less than this and they're gone. And so my feeling is what's good for the goose is good for the gander. Now, as I said earlier, had DiFi said, listen in July this happened, everybody would have said you're politicizing. She waited, she did what the lady asked her to do, which was to not go anywhere, someone leaked it, and we're now in this situation.
Schumer: Once it was leaked they figured out who is a professor at Stanford who lived in Maryland back then and they figured out who it was. So she was already getting calls from reporters and everything else so they knew who she was.
Goldberg: But my question for you, Chuck – I can call you Chuck, right? We've known each other a long time.
Schumer: Please, Chuck is fine.
Behar: Senator Chuck.
Goldberg: We’re close.
Schumer: My mother is 90. She still calls me Chuckie.
Goldberg: See, I didn't even go that far. I just said Chuck. Let me ask you this, in the situation like this, what would you like to have happen?
Schumer: Two things.
Goldberg: The right thing.
Schumer: The right thing. The FBI, which is impartial, good at this, goes and does another investigation on these new allegations. You cannot lie to an FBI officer. It's a crime just like swearing an oath and lying is a crime. They should go interview Professor Ford. They should interview Judge Kavanaugh. They should ask a whole lot of questions. They should interview anybody else, that third person who was in the room, anyone else who was at the party, anyone else she may have said this to in addition to her therapist. They will give a report to the Senate and then Judge Kavanaugh and Professor Ford ought to come publicly and they ought to be asked a lot of questions. And then I think, in my view, the public will see that these allegations are true. The Senate will see these allegations are true, and I don't think his nomination could go forward once people believe they're true as I do now.
Goldberg: Should they put everything on hold and do this?
Schumer: Yes, yes. You know what, a rush to judgment, trying to rush this through on Thursday is an insult to the women of America and an insult to the majesty of the Supreme Court of the United States.
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