women during his professional life and whether he had given sworn statements in response to various allegations.
When it was Senator Dick Durbin’s turn, he urged Kavanaugh to “turn to Don McGahn and tell him it’s time to get this done. An FBI investigation is the only way to answer some of these questions.” He hectored Kavanaugh, “If there is no truth to her charges, the FBI investigation will show that. Are you afraid that they might not?” Kavanaugh stopped responding, just looking at the senator as if he were disappointed in him.
Ordinarily, nominees are deferential to senators, as Kavanaugh had been in his first hearing, politely telling them he understands their concern and respects their wisdom. He wasn’t going to do that now. Kavanaugh was not going to take their belittling, mocking, and mischaracterizations without going right back at them. This time his career was on the line, his family was on the line, and his reputation was on the line. He did not know if he was going to make it through to confirmation, and he did not want to destroy his chances needlessly, but he was intentionally firm and forceful. He thought of Miguel Estrada, a qualified nominee whose confirmation was derailed by Democrats who didn’t want Republicans to place a Hispanic on a high-profile federal court. After Estrada lost his brutal confirmation fight, his wife died prematurely.
Kavanaugh was fighting not only to vindicate his judicial philosophy and the reasoning of his opinions, but also to vindicate his reputation as a man. He had endured the indignity of having to respond to the most sensitive and embarrassing questions he could imagine. He was not going to let his opponents destroy his life.
After Durbin’s questioning, Senator Lindsey Graham asked for the floor.18 No one was expecting what followed. As he began to speak, Graham’s tone was matter-of-fact. “Are you aware,” he asked the nominee, “that at 9:23 the night of July the ninth, the day you were nominated to the Supreme Court by President Trump, Senator Schumer said—twenty-three minutes after your nomination—‘I will oppose Judge Kavanaugh’s nomination with everything I have. I hope a bipartisan majority will do the same. The stakes are simply too high for anything less’? Well, if you weren’t aware of it, you are now.
“Did you meet with Senator Dianne Feinstein on August 20?”
“I did meet with Senator Feinstein,” Kavanaugh answered.
“Did you know her staff had already recommended a lawyer to Dr. Ford?” Here the senator shifted in his chair, hunched his shoulders slightly, and pursed his lips, the first indication of his rising anger.
“I did not know that.”
“Did you know that her and her staff had this allegation for over twenty days?”
“I did not know that at the time.”
And then, turning to the Democrats arrayed to his left, Graham snarled, “If you wanted an FBI investigation, you could have come to us. What you want to do is destroy this guy’s life”—pointing at Kavanaugh—“hold this seat open, and hope you win in 2020. You’ve said that!”
For the next three and a half minutes, Lindsey Graham was a volcano of indignation. With unconcealed contempt, he declared, “If you really wanted to know the truth, you sure as hell wouldn’t have done what you’ve done to this guy,” denouncing the proceedings as the “most unethical sham since I’ve been in politics.” He reminded everyone that he had voted to confirm Democratic nominees Sotomayor and Kagan.
Pointing out that Christine Blasey Ford was as much a victim of the Democrats’ machinations as Kavanaugh was, Graham exposed their true aim with stunning clarity: “Boy, y’all want power. God, I hope you never get it.”
To Kavanaugh he said, “Would you say you’ve been through hell?”
“I’ve been through hell and then some,” Kavanaugh replied.
“This is not a job interview. This is hell,” Graham said. He ended with a warning to his fellow Republicans that if they voted against Kavanaugh, they would be “legitimizing the most despicable thing I have seen in my time in politics.”
The moment was electric. Kavanaugh was overwhelmed and grateful. Senator Graham had changed the entire dynamic of the day. It was powerful because he was saying what everybody outside of newsrooms and other liberal institutions was thinking but couldn’t say. The catharsis was palpable.
Noting that Kavanaugh had interacted with professional women all his life without one accusation, Graham had ridiculed the Democrats for their relentless focus on his high school yearbook. As if to prove the point, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, who followed Graham, devoted his entire five