Late Friday night, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) sent a message to embattled Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh regarding the potential Senate hearing on the sexual harassment accusations leveled against him.
“Judge Kavanaugh I just granted another extension to Dr Ford to decide if she wants to proceed w the statement she made last week to testify to the senate She shld decide so we can move on I want to hear her. I hope u understand. It’s not my normal approach to b indecisive,” Grassley said.
It’s an understandable gesture, but instead of sending it privately as a text message, Grassley sent it out to the world via Twitter.
Judge Kavanaugh I just granted another extension to Dr Ford to decide if she wants to proceed w the statement she made last week to testify to the senate She shld decide so we can move on I want to hear her. I hope u understand. It’s not my normal approach to b indecisive
— Chuck Grassley (@ChuckGrassley) September 22, 2018
Grassley’s Twitter style is simplistic: he doesn’t tag people, rarely uses photos, doesn’t often retweet, and mostly just links to Instagram. But this looks like more of a case of using the wrong app and not just using Twitter badly, mostly because Kavanaugh doesn’t have a Twitter account.
Grassley has been tweeting about the potential hearing regarding Dr. Christine Blasey Ford’s allegations against Kavanaugh since Sept. 19, saying that he and his colleagues wanted to hear from her and would “treat this situation with the sensitivity it deserves.”
Dr. Ford shouldn’t be threatened or insulted & she deserves to be heard. I expect my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to be respectful & treat this situation with the sensitivity it deserves 1/4
— Chuck Grassley (@ChuckGrassley) September 19, 2018
We’re going to continue to try to hear from Dr. Ford in any format she's comfortable w open session/closed session/private staff interviews/public staff interviews bc her information is very important. We’ve provided an opportunity for her to put her story fwd on Monday 2/4
— Chuck Grassley (@ChuckGrassley) September 19, 2018
However, Grassley has continued to blame Senate Democrats for not bringing forward the issue earlier and dismissing the idea of initiating an FBI investigation into the charges.
Cmte investigators are following up on the leads from Dr. Ford’s allegations & news stories No other OUTSIDE investigation is necessary for the Cmte to do its investigation. Don’t know why Dems are refusing to cooperate in the cmte’s investigation I hope Dems will join me 4/4
— Chuck Grassley (@ChuckGrassley) September 19, 2018
Grassley also complained about not having heard from Ford regarding her potential Senate testimony.
Five times now we hv granted extension for Dr Ford to decide if she wants to proceed w her desire stated one wk ago that she wants to tell senate her story Dr Ford if u changed ur mind say so so we can move on I want to hear ur testimony. Come to us or we to u
— Chuck Grassley (@ChuckGrassley) September 22, 2018
Grassley had previously told Ford’s lawyer, Debra Katz, that Ford had until 10:00pm Friday to decide whether to testify. Katz said in an email released by the Washington Post’s Seung Min Kim that the deadline was intended “to bully Dr. Ford and deprive her of the ability to make a considered decision that has life-altering implications for her and her family.”
The new deadline is 2:30pm Saturday.
Update 2:02pm CT, Sept. 22: Per the Washington Post, Dr. Ford will testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday.