Retired Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens Says Brett Kavanaugh Shouldn’t Be Confirmed

Retired former Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens says he doesn’t believe Brett Kavanaugh should not be confirmed as a Supreme Court judge based on the political bias he displayed during his confirmation hearing according to PBS.

Originally reported in The Palm Beach Post, Stevens told a group of retired judges during a Florida speech he doesn’t feel Kavanaugh displayed the proper temperament to be on the highest court in the land.

Stevens had at one point expressed his support for Kavanaugh but has since changed his mind because of factors other than the nominees “intellectual ability.”

“I feel his performance in the hearings ultimately changed my mind,” Stevens told the crowd.

Stevens continued by expressing he felt that the commentators who have been slamming Kavanaugh for what they saw as clear partisan bias were onto something, telling the crowd he thinks “there’s merit to that criticism and I think the senators should really pay attention that.”

Kavanaugh appeared angry and combative during his testimony in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee, exchanging verbal barbs with Democratic Senators and dodging many of their questions with non-committal vague answers and even claiming the delay in his confirmation was a politically motivated con-job by the Democrats and the Clintons.

“This whole two-week effort has been a calculated and orchestrated political hit, fueled with apparent pent-up anger about President Trump and the 2016 election, fear that has been unfairly stoked about my judicial record,” Kavanaugh said. “Revenge on behalf of the Clintons and millions of dollars in money from outside left-wing opposition groups.”

The 98-year-old former justice speaking out is a rare occurrence, one not often seen in politics.

Stevens was nominated to the court by President Gerald Ford, a Republican, and served from 1975 until 2010.

Retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens, a lifelong Republican, told a small crowd in Boca Raton that Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s performance at confirmation hearings should disqualify him. “The Senators should pay attention to this.” pic.twitter.com/LdsJTuPGIx

— Lulu Ramadan (@luluramadan) October 4, 2018

Kavanaugh has been under fire during his nomination process due to sexual assault allegations brought forward by three different women.

Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, the first of the three women to come forward about their assaults, testified in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee last week that when she was 15 she attended a party where a then-17-year-old Brett Kavanaugh and his friend Mark Judge had drunkenly pulled her into a bedroom and attempted to sexually assault her.

Blasey Ford told the Senate Judiciary Committee that she’s “one hundred percent” certain it was Kavanaugh who attacked her.

Kavanaugh has denied all the allegations, telling the committee, “I’ve never sexually assaulted anyone. Not in high school, not in college, not ever.”

Since the hearing, many outlets have pointed out some issues with Kavanaugh’s story, meaning he lied or misrepresented the truth multiple times during his sworn testimony.