Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Are They Ready? Kavanaugh, Ford Prep for High-Stakes Hearing
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 7 years ago on
September 26, 2018

Share

WASHINGTON — On Thursday morning, a psychology professor from California will sit before lawmakers to accuse a Supreme Court nominee of sexual assault — while all of Washington, and much of the nation, watches it live. It’s a high-stakes, high-drama moment with the power to sink Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s chances of winning a seat on the high court and to shift the dynamic in the upcoming midterm elections.
How will Kavanaugh and Ford prepare for the make-or-break event? Here’s a look at what it takes to get ready for a public grilling.

Rehearsal Sessions

First, they will practice. Both Kavanaugh and Ford have undoubtedly spent time with lawyers and other experts in the art of mounting a strong public defense.
These sessions can be nasty, merciless and rough — often called murder boards. They’re designed to squeeze frustration or even anger out of a nominee before the public hearing. Better that it come out in private than in front of the cameras, the thinking goes.
Justices John Roberts, Samuel Alito, Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor all underwent this grilling before their confirmation hearings. So do presidential candidates ahead of televised debates. Ohio Republican Sen. Rob Portman, for example, played Democrats Al Gore and Barack Obama in mock debates with George W. Bush and Mitt Romney to help the Republicans withstand anything that might throw them off-stride.
Kavanaugh spent hours at a time in the White House complex last week preparing for the upcoming hearing. He was joined by a team of officials including White House counsel Don McGahn and members of his staff, officials from the Justice Department, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, deputy press secretary Raj Shah and communications director Bill Shine. Shine’s presence was noteworthy, since he was ousted from his previous job at Fox News in part due to his handling of sexual harassment claims at the company.

Test the Message

Kavanaugh had a dry run of sorts with his Monday night interview with Martha MacCallum of Fox News Channel.

“I think it played well for the people at home. I think he’s going to have to expand on the language. He has to get away from ‘fair process’ and ‘I didn’t do it.'” — Josh Kroon, a Washington-based expert in crisis communications for the firm Levick International
With wife Ashley at his side, the appellate court judge denied at least six times ever sexually assaulting anyone. He said 15 times that he wants a “fair” hearing. He refused to speculate on Ford’s motives for making such an accusation. He volunteered that he was a virgin throughout high school and for years afterward.
Kavanaugh, 53, even seemed emotional — not necessarily a bad thing, according to Josh Kroon, a Washington-based expert in crisis communications for the firm Levick International.
“I think it played well for the people at home,” Kroon said of the glimmer of Kavanaugh’s frustration. “I think he’s going to have to expand on the language. He has to get away from ‘fair process’ and ‘I didn’t do it.'”
Ari Fleischer, former press secretary to President George W. Bush, said, “The challenge for Brett will be conveying the expected emotion that would come with a full-throated denial. His nature is to be quiet, buttoned-down and studious, and if I’m accused of something I didn’t do, I get a little hot, I get a little emotional.”
Dan Pfeiffer, former aide to President Barack Obama, suggested that Kavanaugh came across as insincere and the product of elite society.
“He seemed entitled. He left a lot of additional ground for the Senate to cover on Thursday.”Dan Pfeiffer, former aide to President Barack Obama
“He seemed entitled,” Pfeiffer said. “He left a lot of additional ground for the Senate to cover on Thursday.”
After the interview aired, the sense in the West Wing was relief that Kavanaugh was able to present an image to counter the allegations. Yet there remained concern among aides, and Trump himself, as to how Kavanaugh, who appeared shaken at times during the interview, would hold up facing far fiercer questioning from Senate Democrats on Thursday, according to a White House official not authorized to speak publicly about private conversations.
As for Ford, 51, she and her team have said nothing about how she’s preparing for the hot lights to which she is even less accustomed than Kavanaugh. She works as a psychology professor in a consortium between Stanford and Palo Alto University.

Prepping the Questions

Senators and their staffs are preparing, too, for a hearing that they may see as unavoidable. Ahead of the hearing, they’re honing strategies, questions and follow-ups, all while laboring to avoid an election-year spectacle like the 1991 confirmation hearings of Justice Clarence Thomas with his accuser, Anita Hill.

“This is different from all others. We don’t have a press for comity the way we did for Anita Hill, with a lot of senators trying to avoid a partisan mud-throwing situation. Here, we’re almost already there.” — Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, senior associate dean for leadership studies at Yale University
This time, the all-male Republican members of the Judiciary Committee are hiring an outside female counsel to, in effect, cross-examine Ford.
Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, senior associate dean for leadership studies at Yale University, said Thursday’s hearing is unprecedented.
“This is different from all others,” he said. “We don’t have a press for comity the way we did for Anita Hill, with a lot of senators trying to avoid a partisan mud-throwing situation. Here, we’re almost already there.”
Fleischer said there is pressure on Republican senators to not appear too harsh when they interview Ford, but he said there’s also pressure on Democratic senators interviewing Kavanaugh.
“If they come off looking like they have their fingers in Brett’s chest, lecturing him … they risk riling up half the nation,” Fleischer said.

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

Israeli Military Strikes Beirut’s Southern Suburbs

DON'T MISS

Wondrous Webster Has the Makings of a Wonderful Family Member

DON'T MISS

Trump Threatens Musk’s Government Deals as Feud Explodes Over Tax-Cut Bill

DON'T MISS

Fresno Police Want Your Tips to Solve Taylor Washington Homicide

DON'T MISS

Derek Carr Explains Mysterious Retirement. He Didn’t Want to ‘Just Take the Saints’ Money’

DON'T MISS

What Do Valley Leaders Say About Trump’s Threat to Yank High-Speed Rail Funding?

DON'T MISS

Were Cuts in Rooftop Solar Payments Legal? CA Supreme Court Hears Arguments

DON'T MISS

Fresno Rainbow Pride Marks 35th Year with Saturday Parade and Festival

DON'T MISS

Did That Clint Eastwood Interview Happen? Yes, Kind Of.

DON'T MISS

Biden’s IRS Doubled Audits on the Wealthy, Data Shows

UP NEXT

American Doctors Are Moving to Canada To Escape the Trump Administration

UP NEXT

Loretta Swit, Emmy-winner Who Played Houlihan on Pioneering TV Series ‘M.A.S.H.,’ Has Died at 87

UP NEXT

1 in 4 US Children Have Parents With Substance Use Disorder, Study Finds

UP NEXT

Dozens Sickened in Expanding Salmonella Outbreak Linked to Recalled Cucumbers

UP NEXT

Speaker Johnson Raises Campaign Money in Fresno

UP NEXT

Business Insider Cuts 21% of Workforce, Memo Shows

UP NEXT

Harvard Agrees to Relinquish Early Photos of Slaves, Ending a Long Legal Battle

UP NEXT

Silence on E. Coli Outbreak Highlights How Trump Team’s Changes Undermine Food Safety

UP NEXT

Trump Pardons Tax Cheat After Mother Attends $1 Million Dinner

UP NEXT

NPR Sues Trump Administration Over Executive Order to Cut Funding

Fresno Police Want Your Tips to Solve Taylor Washington Homicide

2 hours ago

Derek Carr Explains Mysterious Retirement. He Didn’t Want to ‘Just Take the Saints’ Money’

3 hours ago

What Do Valley Leaders Say About Trump’s Threat to Yank High-Speed Rail Funding?

3 hours ago

Were Cuts in Rooftop Solar Payments Legal? CA Supreme Court Hears Arguments

4 hours ago

Fresno Rainbow Pride Marks 35th Year with Saturday Parade and Festival

4 hours ago

Did That Clint Eastwood Interview Happen? Yes, Kind Of.

5 hours ago

Biden’s IRS Doubled Audits on the Wealthy, Data Shows

5 hours ago

Millions Would Lose Their Obamacare Coverage Under Trump’s Bill

5 hours ago

New CA Bill Would Streamline Solar Conversion for Dry Farmland

5 hours ago

Supreme Court Rules Catholic Charity Exempt From State Unemployment Taxes

6 hours ago

Israeli Military Strikes Beirut’s Southern Suburbs

(CAIRO) (Reuters) -The Israeli military said on Thursday that it was attacking Hezbollah targets in Beirut’s southern suburbs, and the...

14 minutes ago

14 minutes ago

Israeli Military Strikes Beirut’s Southern Suburbs

Webster, GV Wire's Adoptable Pet of the Week, June 5, 2025
19 minutes ago

Wondrous Webster Has the Makings of a Wonderful Family Member

21 minutes ago

Trump Threatens Musk’s Government Deals as Feud Explodes Over Tax-Cut Bill

2 hours ago

Fresno Police Want Your Tips to Solve Taylor Washington Homicide

3 hours ago

Derek Carr Explains Mysterious Retirement. He Didn’t Want to ‘Just Take the Saints’ Money’

3 hours ago

What Do Valley Leaders Say About Trump’s Threat to Yank High-Speed Rail Funding?

4 hours ago

Were Cuts in Rooftop Solar Payments Legal? CA Supreme Court Hears Arguments

4 hours ago

Fresno Rainbow Pride Marks 35th Year with Saturday Parade and Festival

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend