Chuck Grassley's heavy-handed stewardship of a very delicate hearing
Republicans went to great lengths to avoid questioning Christine Blasey Ford themselves, knowing the optics of 11 white men dissecting her account and pushing back on her claims could be bad. One need only review the tapes of the Clarence Thomas/Anita Hill hearing to understand how that can go awry.
But one of them couldn’t avoid being involved: Charles E. Grassley (Iowa), who chairs the committee and must preside over the hearing.
Overall, it hasn’t been great. In direct interactions with Ford, Grassley was polite and even solicitous, reassuring her that she could ask for breaks and clarifications as needed. But it was his other interactions that set the tone.
Rather than being cautious and measured and avoiding overreach, Grassley has set about controlling the hearing and even hitting back at Democrats in ways that occasionally seemed unhelpful.
Even before Ford was allowed to deliver her powerful and emotional opening statement, Grassley ran through a series of complaints about how Democrats and her legal team have handled the process. After apologizing to both Ford and Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh for the things they have been subjected to in the past two weeks, Grassley set about placing the hearing in a partisan context. He repeatedly described her letter to Ranking Member Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) as “secret,” suggesting it was nefariously hidden rather than a symptom of Ford’s desire not to come forward at that point.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/chuck-grassley’s-heavy-handed-stewardship-of-a-very-delicate-hearing/ar-BBNDc65?li=BBnb4R7