Scalise Calls Out Democrats’ SCOTUS Delay Tactics

On Senate Democrats’ obstruction efforts:

“Well, you see partisans from the committee on the Democrat side out there trying to encourage people to come forward and almost coaching them. With this latest accuser, the names of people that she submitted say it didn’t happen. At some point you need to look at all of the women who have come forward to defend Judge Kavanaugh, to speak up for his integrity and the kind of man he is. I think all of that has to be weighed. When you see Stormy Daniels’ attorney involved in this, too. You have to balance that out. People see what’s happening on the other side where they’re trying to delay and delay and Senate Democrats on the committee might have even encouraged or knew some of this stuff and never even said anything about it during the process, when you had all the hearings going on. Again, you have to weigh everything. But look at all of the women who have come forward that have known Judge Kavanaugh his entire life, in his high school and college days and speak for his integrity and how good and high quality of a man he is.”

On Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), the Senate Judiciary Committee, and the White House’s efforts to be fair to all sides:

“Well, I think you see how Senator Grassley and the Republicans on the committee have done everything they can to give people an opportunity to come forward and speak. But at some point, you have to weigh all of that evidence that speaks strongly for Judge Kavanaugh to be on the Supreme Court and then ultimately have a vote.”

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“Senator Grassley has been more than fair, working, bending over backwards, to give every opportunity for people to come forward—for months. This isn’t something that just started a few weeks ago. This has been going on for a few months. When some of the Senate Democrats on the committee, maybe were encouraging this or knew about this, weeks and weeks ago and sat on it, they didn’t want it to come forward. They are the ones who have been trying to suppress anything. When people have been given as names by the accuser, who said ‘Here, these are the people that I want you to go talk to,’ and [these witnesses] all say it didn’t happen. Again, all of that has to be weighed against all of the women who have come forward to say that Judge Kavanaugh ought to be on the Supreme Court, is overly qualified to be on the Supreme Court. Let’s not just leave somebody out there like a piñata, just for anybody with a political agenda to come forward. There have been months of opportunity and then you have to weigh all of the evidence that strongly says that Judge Kavanaugh is fit and the right person to be on the Supreme Court.”

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“I think [the White House has] handled it incredibly well, all along saying, ‘Let’s get the facts out. Let’s provide opportunities,’ as they have. On Thursday that opportunity will be there. At the end of the day, you have to look and say, ‘Based on everything that we’ve seen, Judge Kavanaugh ought to be on the Supreme Court.’ Again, everybody that’s testified that knows him, that’s known him his entire life, says ‘He is the person that ought to be there.’ But there is politics involved. Clearly, you can see the political side of it. Again, when you see Democrat political operatives, Democrat lawyers, Stormy Daniels’ lawyer involved on the other side, that all has to be weighed as well.”

On Democrats’ political motivations to stop Judge Kavanaugh’s appointment: 

“Well, they stated that intention before anybody came forward. Let’s be clear. The Democrats in the Senate have been wanting to delay the Kavanaugh nomination even before there was anybody accusing him of anything. Their political agenda has been very up front. They don’t want Kavanaugh to be on the bench for political reasons. Ultimately, when you look at some big important decisions the court will face, if there are 4-4 cases, left and right, you can see why there is a political agenda on the left to try to keep him off. Anybody that believes in justice, anybody that believes in an independent judiciary and the Supreme Court functioning properly, ought to say, ‘You ought to treat people that are nominated, that have those qualifications to be on the highest court in the land … with that kind of dignity and respect.’ Ultimately, let’s move forward and vote.”

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“You can’t look at it in the prism of an election. You have to look at it in the prism of the facts and what’s out there. Again, when witnesses who have been given by the accuser come forward and say, ‘It didn’t happen’, that ought to be balanced with everything else, too. Everybody gets their opportunity to make their claim, but we do believe in innocence until proven guilty. Then, when you see all of the evidence, strongly in support of the integrity, the high standards that Judge Kavanaugh has maintained his entire life, that has to be balanced as well.”

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“If you look at the resist movement, that’s behind what’s moving the Democrat party so far to the left that socialists are getting elected in their primary against liberals. You’re looking at a party that’s moving toward socialism. They don’t want anybody that Donald Trump moves forward to be on the Supreme Court. They’ve been clear about that. You could bring up the person that they select as a constitutionalist and they would still oppose that person. Let’s look at the political motives they’ve had from day one before a name was put forward. You can look at some of these press releases that liberal groups and some senators were putting out before Judge Kavanaugh’s name was selected to be put on the Supreme Court. When Donald Trump named him, there were some of those press releases that said, ‘He/she would be a horrible judge.’ They didn’t know or care who the name was. They would attack whoever Donald Trump put forward.”