Missouri Attorney General and Republican Senate candidate Josh Hawley on Monday called for a special counsel investigation into Democrats' actions regarding Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh confirmation process.
Hawley said Senate Judiciary Committee ranking member Dianne Feinstein (D., Calif.) violated the accuser's privacy, and he called on his election opponent Sen. Claire McCaskill (D., Mo.) to support investigating the matter.
"Senate Democrats exploited Dr. Ford and smeared Judge Kavanaugh, all for political gain. The American people deserve to know how Dr. Ford’s confidentially was violated and what Senator Feinstein and her Democrat colleagues were doing behind the scenes for months," Hawley said in statement. "If Senator McCaskill is in search of the truth, she should join me in supporting an investigation of her Democrat allies."
Christine Blasey Ford, the woman accusing Kavanaugh of sexual assault, told the Washington Post that Kavanaugh, then a junior in high school, attacked her when they were at a party in Maryland in the early 1980s. She alleged Kavanaugh forced her onto a bed, groped her, and tried to remove her clothes while he was heavily intoxicated, all while his friend Mark Judge watched. She said she managed to escape after Judge jumped on them, sending them tumbling and giving her an opportunity to get out of the room.
Kavanaugh has denied the allegation.
Before coming out publicly, Ford wrote a letter Feinstein detailing her allegation. Ford told Feinstein she wished to be anonymous and didn't want her name made public. Her letter was leaked and led to Ford coming out publicly.
Feinstein denied that she or her staff was the one who leaked Ford's letter to the media. She said it was likely a friend of Ford's who leaked her story to the media.
Hawley also accused McCaskill of not giving Kavanaugh a "fair shake."
"Senator McCaskill and her liberal pals in Washington were never going to give Judge Kavanaugh a fair shake. They devised a plan to obstruct President Trump’s pick before there was even a nomination. Their quest for power and control is why they’ve obstructed Judge Kavanaugh’s nomination every step of the way," Hawley said.
McCaskill has announced she would vote no on Kavanaugh citing his view on dark money in politics. McCaskill has been absent from the latest Democratic attacks against Kavanaugh, and has said she "set aside" the sexual assault allegations against him when deciding how to vote on his nomination.
The Washington Free Beacon reported how McCaskill became "physically ill" when she learned about Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy's retirement.