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

St. Agnes’ New Chief Medical Officer Is a Kidney Care Expert

DON'T MISS

US Military to Create Two New Border Zones, Officials Say

DON'T MISS

Trump Signals US May Ease Iran Oil Sanction Enforcement to Help Rebuild Country

DON'T MISS

CIA Says Intelligence Indicates Iran’s Nuclear Program Severely Damaged

DON'T MISS

Upscale Woodward Park Area Apartments Sell for $19 Million

DON'T MISS

Wired Wednesday: Learn the Latest on the Caleb Quick Murder Hearings

DON'T MISS

Trump Administration Orders CA to Strip Trans Athlete of Medals

DON'T MISS

Three Mile Island Nuclear Plant Reboot Fast-Tracked to 2027

DON'T MISS

Democratic Lawmaker Pleads Not Guilty to Assaulting US Agents at Immigration Center

DON'T MISS

Israeli Spy Chief Commends Agents for Iran Mission, Vows to Remain Vigilant

UP NEXT

Cuomo Concedes to Mamdani in New York City Democratic Mayoral Contest

UP NEXT

Mamdani Holds Lead Over Cuomo in Democratic Primary for NYC Mayor

UP NEXT

Clovis Man Sentenced to 8 Years in Federal Prison in Deadly Fentanyl Case

UP NEXT

Victims Identified as Death Toll Climbs to 8 in Lake Tahoe Boating Tragedy

UP NEXT

Florida to Build ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ Detention Center for Migrants in Everglades

UP NEXT

Americans Worry Conflict With Iran Could Escalate, Reuters/Ipsos Poll Finds

UP NEXT

Advisory Warns of ‘Heightened Threat Environment’ in US After Iran Strikes

UP NEXT

Amazon’s Prime Day 2025 Levels Up With Four Days of Deals Starting July 8

UP NEXT

Voice of America Parent Terminates Over 600 More Staff in Likely Death Knell

UP NEXT

US Court Lets Trump Keep Control of California National Guard for Now

Trump Says Netanyahu’s Trial Should Be Canceled

11 hours ago

St. Agnes’ New Chief Medical Officer Is a Kidney Care Expert

11 hours ago

US Military to Create Two New Border Zones, Officials Say

12 hours ago

Trump Signals US May Ease Iran Oil Sanction Enforcement to Help Rebuild Country

12 hours ago

CIA Says Intelligence Indicates Iran’s Nuclear Program Severely Damaged

13 hours ago

Upscale Woodward Park Area Apartments Sell for $19 Million

14 hours ago

Wired Wednesday: Learn the Latest on the Caleb Quick Murder Hearings

14 hours ago

Trump Administration Orders CA to Strip Trans Athlete of Medals

15 hours ago

Three Mile Island Nuclear Plant Reboot Fast-Tracked to 2027

15 hours ago

Democratic Lawmaker Pleads Not Guilty to Assaulting US Agents at Immigration Center

15 hours ago

4 Million Acres of California Forests Could Lose Protection. What Trump’s ‘Roadless Rule’ Repeal Could Do

This story was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for their newsletters. The Trump administration’s plan to repeal a rule prohibiti...

10 hours ago

Tahoe National Forest
10 hours ago

4 Million Acres of California Forests Could Lose Protection. What Trump’s ‘Roadless Rule’ Repeal Could Do

Palestinians gather to receive aid supplies in Beit Lahia, in the northern Gaza Strip, June 17, 2025. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo
11 hours ago

Israeli Settlers Raid West Bank Town, Troops Kill 3 Palestinians

West Nile virus mosquito
11 hours ago

West Nile Virus Detected in Mosquitoes in Fresno County

President Donald Trump meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, U.S., April 7, 2025. (Reuters File)
11 hours ago

Trump Says Netanyahu’s Trial Should Be Canceled

11 hours ago

St. Agnes’ New Chief Medical Officer Is a Kidney Care Expert

A U.S. Border Patrol vehicle patrols along the border wall, following the establishment of a 260-mile military zone along the southern U.S. border in New Mexico and Texas as part of the Trump administration's crackdown on immigration, in Sunland Park, New Mexico, U.S., May 20, 2025. (Reuters File)
12 hours ago

US Military to Create Two New Border Zones, Officials Say

Oil tankers pass through the Strait of Hormuz, December 21, 2018. (Reuters File)
12 hours ago

Trump Signals US May Ease Iran Oil Sanction Enforcement to Help Rebuild Country

CIA Director John Ratcliffe speaks during an interview at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., April 30, 2025. (Reuters File)
13 hours ago

CIA Says Intelligence Indicates Iran’s Nuclear Program Severely Damaged

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

Search

Send this to a friend