Democratic congressional hopeful Theresa Gasper said it is “hard to speculate” over whether she would support impeachment proceedings against Judge Brett Kavanaugh.
The Republican-controlled Senate confirmed Kavanaugh as an Associate Justice on the Supreme Court after a bitter nomination fight. This week, senators reviewed a confidential series of FBI interviews on whether Kavanaugh assaulted Christine Blasey Ford in 1982 when both were teenagers. Kavanaugh, 53, denies the claims.
Last month, the political news site Axios reported that "top Democratic operatives are already talking about impeachment of Brett Kavanaugh as a 2020 campaign issue if he gets confirmed to the Supreme Court."
Gasper, who faces Congressman Mike Turner, R-Dayton, in the November election, made her comments in an interview with this news organization today at a protest in Dayton’s Courthouse Square before the Senate vote.
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“I don’t know who I’m even going to be there with. I don’t know if there will be a Democratic majority, minority, if it will be a wide or narrow margin, so it’s so hard to speculate” on impeachment, Gasper said. “But what disturbs me is, no matter what did nor did not happen, I really believe that he did not display the demeanor and the temperament that he needs to be on the Supreme Court.
“And it bothers me that the country is so divided and so much in their camp that nobody can see the other person’s side. And I think that’s what we need to focus on more than articles of impeachment, is how do we start bringing this country back together.”
A spokesperson for Turner did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
While the U.S. Constitution gives the Senate an “advice and consent” role over the president’s nominees to federal office, the document gives the House “the sole power of impeachment” on charges of treason, bribery or other high crimes and misdemeanors. If the House impeaches an official, the Senate holds a trial over whether to remove the official from office.
No Supreme Court justice has ever been removed from office. The House impeached Justice Samuel Chase in 1804 on accusations of being overly partisan. The Senate acquitted him in 1805.
Washington Bureau Chief Jack Torry contributed reporting.
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