Sen. Chris Coons listened to testimony Thursday about sexual assault allegations against a nominee for the U.S. Supreme Court.
Psychology professor Christine Blasey Ford has accused Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her at a high school party in 1982. He denied this allegation and several others.
Coons said thousands of survivors have been inspired by Ford’s courage coming forward with her story. But he said he’s disturbed by others saying this was just boys being boys.
“To me, that’s just far too low a standard for the conduct of boys and men in our country,” he said.
Coons heard Ford’s testimony that Kavanaugh and his friend Mark Judge were drinking heavily at the party where she says the assault happened.
Coons questioned Kavanaugh about his drinking, quoting comments from former college classmates about alleged excessive alcohol consumption.
“The quote that jumped out at me was ‘Brett was a sloppy drunk and I know because I drank with him,’” he said.
Kavanaugh said while he did drink beer in high school and college, he didn’t drink excessively and didn’t black out when he drank.
Coons also asked Kavanaugh to consider supporting a week-long delay in his confirmation process and allowing a full FBI investigation into the allegations.
Coons adds the FBI should be allowed to do a full investigation - and the Judiciary Committee should have subpoenaed Mark Judge.
Sen. Tom Carper and Congresswoman Lisa Blunt Rochester have also called for a full FBI investigation.
