Supreme Court Nominee Kavanaugh Clears Crucial Senate Hurdle

WASHINGTON (AP) — A deeply divided Senate pushed Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court nomination past a key procedural hurdle Friday, setting up a likely final showdown this weekend in a spellbinding battle that’s seen claims of long-ago sexual assault by the nominee threaten President Donald Trump’s effort to tip the court rightward for decades. The Senate…

GOP Senators Await FBI Report in Anxiety-Filled Capitol

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senators nervously awaited the arrival of a new FBI report on sexual allegations that could make or break Brett Kavanaugh’s tottering Supreme Court nomination Wednesday as aggressive protesters and an unusually strong security response added to a feeling of high anxiety inside the U.S. Capitol. As lawmakers anticipated the report, three key…

GOP Senators Expect FBI Probe Results Soon

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh and sexual misconduct allegations against him (all times local): 2:30 p.m. Republican senators expect to receive the results of a new FBI background investigation into Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh as soon as Wednesday afternoon. The second-ranking Senate Republican, Sen. John Cornyn, says he…

The Latest: Conway say Ford Treated Like ‘Fabergé egg’

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh and sexual misconduct allegations (all times local): 11 a.m. White House counselor Kellyanne Conway is defending President Donald Trump after he mocked a woman who has accused his Supreme Court nominee of sexual assault. Conway told reporters at the White House Wednesday that Christine…

McConnell: Democrats are Aiming ‘Mud and Muck’ at Kavanaugh  

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell accused Democrats on Tuesday of opening “the flood gates of mud and muck” against Brett Kavanaugh as Republicans sought to portray efforts to derail the Supreme Court nominee over accusations of sexual assault in the 1980s as “the politics of personal destruction.” The Kentucky Republican’s combative remarks…

One Hearing Plus Two Witnesses Equals Many Takeaways

By MARJORIE MILLER and JOCELYN NOVECK ,  Associated Press It was one hearing with just two witnesses but, in an era of deep political polarization and yawning cultural divisions, Americans came away Thursday having heard very different things. Millions of men and women listened to nervous-but-composed college professor Christine Blasey Ford tell the Senate Judiciary Committee…

Angry Kavanaugh Denies Ford Accusation, Sees ‘Disgrace’

WASHINGTON (AP) — Emotionally battling to rescue his Supreme Court nomination, Brett Kavanaugh fought back Thursday against allegations that he’d sexually assaulted Christine Blasey Ford when both were high school students, telling Congress that allegations by her and others have “totally and permanently destroyed” his family and his reputation. In a loud voice, the conservative…