Kavanaugh that he shouldn’t say anything that he didn’t want to be made public. He kept quiet about the existence of his calendars, therefore, so he could reveal them on his own timing. Shah had drafted intrusive questions for Sanders to ask, but she was too uncomfortable to do so. Another participant asked them instead.
At the end of a moot, Kavanaugh ordinarily left so the participants could discuss his performance and decide on a single strategy. After he left the room, someone interrupted the discussion to announce that the media were already reporting that Kavanaugh was mooting with the press team. Later the Washington Post cited three sources who reported that “Kavanaugh grew frustrated when it came to questions that dug into his private life, particularly his drinking habits and his sexual proclivities.”15 They added that he declined to answer some questions altogether, which made it sound like he had something to hide. In fact, one of the goals of the moot had been to determine the right place to draw a line on invasive questions, and the only question he had ultimately declined to answer was when he had first slept with his wife.
Their suspicions about the discretion of the broader group confirmed, the core Kavanaugh team resolved to get rid of any nonessential aides. Contrary to the press reports, they felt he had handled the moot so well that another moot could be counterproductive. They didn’t want him to go into the hearing sounding scripted.
Kavanaugh also spoke by telephone to the Judiciary Committee staff under penalty of felony on Monday. He “unequivocally denied” the allegations. Democratic staff members could have asked any question they wanted, but they declined to participate in the interview. Kavanaugh requested a hearing right away, the next day if possible. He knew that with each passing day the media would elaborate on their portrait of a sexual predator and activists would redouble their search for dirt.
The Judiciary Committee staff tried to talk to Ford on Sunday after her name was revealed and again on Monday when her attorney said she wanted to share her story with them. Ford’s attorneys refused the requests, according to a Senate report.16
Grassley preferred a private information-gathering process to a public hearing, which was likely to become a circus. He had spent decades protecting whistle-blowers who made serious allegations, and in June he had held a full committee hearing on sexual harassment in the federal judiciary. He wanted to provide Ford a safe, comfortable, and dignified way to tell her story, even if he didn’t want the entire judicial confirmation process held hostage.
But by late afternoon on Monday, nearly all the Republicans on the committee wanted to offer Ford a hearing. Kavanaugh also wanted a public hearing to clear his name. The White House had heard from Senator Ben Sasse, who advised them to take the allegations as seriously as possible, citing his experience as a college president.
A committee business meeting had been scheduled for Thursday, September 20, the date they had expected to vote Kavanaugh out of committee, and some White House staff members hoped a second hearing could be held then. But because notice of the witnesses appearing had to be given a week in advance, Grassley could not schedule it earlier than Monday, the twenty-fourth. Katz had now repeatedly said on television that Ford wished to testify, so Grassley went ahead and scheduled hearings. Senator John Kennedy spilled the beans as he exited the meeting with Republican colleagues where the decision was made.
Perhaps unknowingly, Republicans had called Katz’s bluff. She immediately shifted to a different strategy, demanding that the FBI investigate the allegation before Ford testified.17 Democrats, while boycotting the committee’s own investigative efforts, joined her in insisting that the FBI should be given time to do a full investigation. The Department of Justice explained on Monday that the FBI had not been called on because the allegation did not involve any federal crime and the letter had already been added to his background information file according to the usual procedure.18
The Kavanaugh team’s worries about the dangers of delay were soon borne out. In contrast to the skepticism with which the press treated the supportive letter from Kavanaugh’s female friends and colleagues the previous week, it lavished favorable coverage on a letter signed by alumnae of Holton-Arms, described as a “response” to the first letter.19 The signatures had been collected quickly, as had the signatures to the letter in support of Kavanaugh, but this time there was