bob, there were early reports that one of the candidates who mitch mcconnell told the white house would be the most difficult to get through the senate was brett kavanagh. there were early reports before brett kavanagh was named indicating that senator mcconnell didn t want the difficulty of getting brett kavanagh through the senate. that s spot on, lawrence. i can confirm that. you know in the senate time is of the essence. mcconnell was look ing at the calendar and the senator said we ve got to get this done quickly. he told the white house, based on my reporting, that kavanagh had too many documents in his history going back to his time in the bush white house. mcconnell s people tell me he couldn t predict this kind of allegation would come up, but he was looking for someone like from kentucky mcconnell fafrtd favorite to move it through the senate. this is just months before the midterm elections. the republicans in the senate, mitch mcconnell was in
reporter for the washington post and an msnbc contributor. robert, what can you tell us about republican reaction in the senate about what happens next? it s a fragile political moment right now for the republican party. they re holding the line. they re taking their cues. i was at the capital today. they re taking their cues from leader mcconnell and chairman grassley. they believe they can plow forward. but you can be sure they re monitoring public opinion. they know the public may be averse to this kind of fast move. bob, there were early reports that one of the candidates who mitch mcconnell told the white house would be the most difficult to get through the senate was brett kavanagh. there were early reports before brett kavanagh was named indicating that senator mcconnell didn t want the difficulty of getting brett kavanagh through the senate. that s spot on, lawrence. i can confirm that. you know in the senate time is of the essence. mcconnell was look ing at the
weeks ago showed that he s more than willing to lie and mislead the senate in order to try to advance his career. so i think rushing forward when he s been ensconced at the white house, preparing for next week while she s been fleeing her home is manifestly unfair. this needs to be fully investigated and it shouldn t be given a short shrift and the way senator grassley approached this matter from the beginning. we have senator feinstein issuing a statement, i agree 100% that the rushed process to hold a hearing on money has been unfair and is reminiscent of the treatment of anita hill. senator feinstein advocating the fbi investigation. and, bob, there is a much to fear actually for brett kavanagh and his friend mark judge who is another witness who would be in an fbi investigation. that is, of course, that lying to the fbi is a federal crime in and of itself. yes, absolutely. and the fbi can ask a series of