Grassley blasts Dems, media over Kavanaugh treatment, says confirmation should come Saturday

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Sen. Grassley: Kavanaugh process has been fair and thorough

Senator Grassley speaks out about the Kavanaugh confirmation process, saying everything but Kavanaugh's qualifications has been brought up.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley slammed Democrats and the media for their handling of the controversy surrounding Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh after the FBI released its report on sexual misconduct allegations against the federal judge.

At a news conference with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and other GOP members of the committee, Grassley, R-Iowa, compared the furor surrounding Kavanaugh to "a demolition derby" and said Democrats had "just about destroyed a good person to be on the Supreme Court."

Grassley then turned his ire against the media, accusing it of biased coverage of the Kavanaugh controversy.

"I’ve had demonstrators in my office for two weeks now, both for Kavanaugh and against Kavanaugh," a visibly angry Grassley said. "One time, the people that were for Kavanaugh wanted to be interviewed, and they said, 'We’re only interested in interviewing people against Kavanaugh.'

"Now, that’s a bias that none of you should be proud of," Grassley added before turning away from the microphone.

Grassley also responded to claims that Republicans had hamstrung the investigation to force Kavanaugh's confirmation through the Senate by noting that it had been 87 days since President Trump nominated the judge to fill a vacancy on the Supreme Court.

"That’s three weeks longer than the average of the last three or four nominees to the Supreme Court," Grassley said. "So don't tell me we haven't spent enough time."

A crucial test vote on Kavanaugh's nomination is scheduled to take place Friday morning. Should Republicans get the majority of votes they need — and Vice President Mike Pence is available to cast the tie-breaker, if necessary — that would set up a decisive roll call on his confirmation, which is likely to take place over the weekend.

"I feel very good about where this nomination is now," said Grassley, who added, "Judge Kavanaugh should be confirmed on Saturday."