WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on the Supreme Court nomination of Brett Kavanaugh (all times local):
8:45 a.m.
Former President George W. Bush has been advocating for Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh with wavering senators in recent days. That’s according to a person familiar with the outreach who wasn’t authorized to discuss the development publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Kavanaugh is a former top aide in Bush’s administration.
Bush has spoken to Republicans Jeff Flake of Arizona and Susan Collins of Maine as well as Democrat Joe Manchin of West Virginia over the past several days — in an effort that the person familiar with the outreach says Bush initiated.
—Associated Press writer Catherine Lucey.
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8:05 a.m.
The White House is pushing back against a call from the American Bar Association to slow the vote on Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh until the FBI can do a full background check.
Spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters Friday that Kavanaugh has already “been through six separate background investigations by the FBI.”
Kavanaugh testified Thursday to the Senate Judiciary Committee over an allegation of sexual assault when he was in high school. His accuser, Christine Blasey Ford, also appeared before the committee during the emotionally charged day.
Sanders stressed Trump’s support for Kavanaugh and said he wanted to see a vote. She said Trump thought Kavanaugh’s testimony was “powerful, it was riveting and it was honest.”
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1:30 a.m.
The American Bar Association has urged the Senate Judiciary Committee and the full Senate to slow down on the vote on Brett Kavanaugh for a position on the Supreme Court until the FBI has time to do a full background check on claims of sexual assault made by Christine Blasey (blah-zee) Ford and other women.
“We make this request because of the ABA’s respect for the rule of law and due process under law,” the ABA letter to committee leadership said. “Each appointment to our nation’s highest court (as with all others) is simply too important to rush to a vote.”
The Judiciary committee plans a vote on Kavanaugh Friday.
