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PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP said he was apologising on behalf of the whole country to his new conservative Supreme Court justice after one of the most contentious confirmation processes in US history.
At a White House swearing-in ceremony, Trump stood next to Justice Brett Kavanaugh and said he’d been “proven innocent” of the sexual assault allegations that threatened to derail him in a Senate confirmation process revealing the depth of the left-right split tearing through American politics.
“On behalf of our nation, I want to apologise to Brett and the entire Kavanaugh family for the terrible pain and suffering you have been forced to endure,” he said at the ceremony in the ornate White House East Room.
Trump showed he still considers the nomination row a political battle. Before the ceremony, he’d described opposition Democrats as “evil” and the sexual assault claims as a “hoax”.
But after being sworn in, Kavanaugh struck a markedly more conciliatory tone.
He told an audience that included the entire Supreme Court and a Who’s Who of Republican movers and shakers that he had “no bitterness” and would never bring politics into the top court.
“The Supreme Court is a team of nine. And I will always be a team player on the team of nine…. The Senate confirmation process was contentious and emotional. That process is over,” he said.
Fight for votes
Trump sees his success in getting Kavanaugh onto the court — tilting the crucial body to the right for potentially years to come — as one of the major successes of his turbulent two-year administration.
It also comes in the final run-up to midterm elections on 6 November.
The president — whose Republicans fear losing at least the lower chamber of Congress — predicted that Democrats would pay for their attempts to block the confirmation, especially during the lurid debate over decades-old sexual assault allegations.
“I think a lot of Democrats are going to vote Republican,” he said in his earlier comments outside the White House. “I think you’re going to see a lot of things happening on November 6.”
Democrats had fought tooth and nail to stop Kavanaugh’s candidacy, claiming that the accomplished, conservative-minded judge was not suited to the Supreme Court.
Then, just as his confirmation seemed inevitable, 11th-hour allegations emerged that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted a 15-year-old girl while at high school and exposed himself to a female classmate at an alcohol-fueled dorm party at Yale University.
No concrete evidence was produced to back up the searing accusations, which Republicans described as a dirty tricks campaign.
After an extra FBI probe — which media reports say was drastically curtailed by the White House — also found nothing new, Kavanaugh was finally voted into the coveted post.
Kavanaugh officially took the oath in a more hurried, private procedure Saturday, but the White House version late yesterday gave the Trump administration a chance to perform the equivalent of a victory lap on live television.
Lighting a match
Trump has repeatedly said that putting conservatives on the court — Kavanaugh is his second appointment — was among the top goals of his presidency.
“I’ve always been told it’s the biggest thing a president can do and I can understand that,” he said.
He called the Kavanaugh row “a disgraceful situation brought about by people who are evil,” and said that the result was “very exciting”.
“I’m doing rallies and people are loving that man and loving that choice,” he said.
In reality, Kavanaugh’s confirmation lit a match under existing tensions ahead of the midterm elections.
The two-vote margin of victory in the Senate made it the closest Supreme Court confirmation vote since 1881 — and by far the most contentious since Clarence Thomas in 1991. Only one Democrat voted for Trump’s nominee.
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ol Francis was up to her eyes in this….but she couldn’t “jettison” her pal Noreen o sullivan…the whole Mc cabe scandal still has a LOT of questions to be answered
@Frank Dubogovik: so far, nearly all questions and very few real answers.
@Frank Dubogovik: I hope I’m wrong,but being a suspicious kind of fella,I could see Sgt McCabe getting a huge pay off from the state to vanish(for the integrity/stability of the State).Thus saving Kenny,Franny Fitz,Noreen and the rest of them from justice.
@Billy McNamara: I think that the problem is that he can’t be bribed into silence; likely this would be attempted if it was reasonably sure not to blow up in the face of the Government.
@Fiona deFreyne: As I said,after quite a few years on this earth I’m a dubious person,especially of Irish Politicans AND Bankers.But I hope that Sgt McCabe (after all he has been put through) will see this sorry saga to the bitter end.
@Billy McNamara:
McCabe is innocent and has no reason to accept “a bribe”.
He will go down in Irish history as the honest man who broke the circle of Irish political corruption.
What are they hiding from ? The truth – in the same way they hide from facts – hospitals in crisis / homelessness at record high numbers etc. All we get from Fianna Gael is lies – spin – bluster and pay 5 mill per year to a team of muppets to post pictures of Leo in his socks eating chicken nuggets or emptying the dishwasher. What this government did to Mr McCabe tells you everything you need to know about the low life’s that currently operate in the Dail – dangerous, untrustworthy free loaders without a shred of decency between them.
@Setrakian:
Political Corruption = “The habit of Denial and Cover-up”.
Fitz and Regina Doherty give FG women a bad name, and I speak for my wife and daughter who are in disgust.
When you don’t get a straight answer, draw your own conclusions. If they knew nothing Mr Kelly would have been told . Can we not have straight politicians without the spin , ducking and diving.
Just do it, but don’t tell us about it.
Who will rid us of this turbulent Garda Sergeant?
A Garda of true integrity could be dangerous. Who knows what might emerge, points, breath tests, set up, perverting the course of justice, fitting up political opponents, targeting left wing TDs etc.
@Fiona deFreyne: Left Wing TD’s still under Garda surveillance. We should at the very least aspire to an autonomous police force.
Handy enough, setup an auld commission, then hide behind it. Not me guv, sure it was like that when I found it. Who, ME, must be some other fella, sure I only got this auld job because I did a bit of covering up for our former dear leader, Herr Enda.
Why are we still looking into this?
After all, everything is perfect in Leo Land. Everyone is employed and earning bundles, in fact enough to buy a €350k house with cash. Lets not spoil the party you big bunch of downers. Leo Land is a happy place.
“Certainly I have never had the slightest interest personally in attacking Maurice McCabe’s character”
Says Francis neatly side stepping the question if her THEN department had any involvement…….
Well leo as head of the government……
What are they hiding from?
Surely everyone deserves an answer
@LITTLEONE: Here we go again, the last fella ran rings around us, and here is the new fella doing exactly the same thing and not even a furlong into the job yet. Me heart is broken with despair.
LETS all be honest ,do we expect the truth to come out ,in all probability no we dont ,this government like previous governments continue to protect the system at all costs .they dont want to see how rotten it is ,a bit like the church and the child abuse ,truth is not for the masses but for a select few in order to protect the false integrity of the state .none of them have the bottle their just well paid yes men .
Another rise in the opinion polls beckons so.
@Dick Durkin: when and where were these polls taken?Iwas never asked nor do iknow of anyone who was asked My friends were never asked nor do they know of anyone who was asked Not a true reflection of Louth Donegal Dublin Kildare or Galway.
The report when published will be deemed not in the public interest, and buried.
Mark my words, this scandal is going to bring down the govt, Noirin will implicate Frances, she has nothing to lose.DOJ in this up to their necks.
We have been told repeatedly by feminists that women would bring a greater degree of integrity and honesty to Irish political life than their male colleagues.Well what do you think?
We can’t handle the truth.
@Fiona deFreyne: We now need it,once and for all.And then to move to a better place.
More deflection and “plausible deniability” from the criminals running this country, or ruining the country.
I think the latter is more fitting….
If I was accused of breaking the law I would instantly deny it, not wait for a tribunal.
Do these lot go out in the night time and dig up the roads so as people in their area will complain about potholes, and hay presto, they are fixed in no length of time, and the easily led will again vote for the good Samaritan that made their journey just that little bit smoother. Now the one about the three bears.
“Their issues dealt with” … oh how condescending. Whistleblowers don’t have ‘issues’, the people they expose do! Flanagan is what I always knew he was … another Frances Fitzgerald. He’s got the ‘mustn’t interfere with an ongoing process’ waffle to a tee.
@Anthony Halpin: Let me ask the question again, WHO votes for this lot.?
Who cares about any of this crap anymore. Pay McCabe and move on. We’re sick of listening to this self righteous crap.
Policing is a tough game. We’ve all got responsibilities regarding policing this country. We shouldn’t dwell too much on whingers who feel hard done by. These people need to get over themselves. Attention seekers. Political point scorers, etc.
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