Hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee - Opening Statement of Sen. John Cornyn, Hearing on

Hearing

"Judge, I can't think of a more embarrassing scandal for the United States Senate since the McCarthy hearings."

"The American people are listening to this and they will make their decision and I think you'll come out on the right side of that."

"You've been accused of a crime. If you have lied to the committee and the investigators, that is a crime in and of itself."

"So in order to vote against your nomination, we would have to conclude that you are a serial liar."

"And you have exposed yourself to legal jeopardy in your interaction with this committee and the investigators."

"So I would just suggest that you have been accused of a crime, and that a fair process under the United States Constitution, under our notion of fair play, means that the people who make an accusation against you have to come forward with some evidence."

"And part of that means that if you're going to make an allegation, there needs to be corroboration. In other words, you're not guilty because somebody makes an accusation against you in this country."

"And you're right to be angry."

"It's hard to reconstruct what happened 36 years ago, and I appreciate what you said about Dr. Ford. That perhaps she has had an incident at some point in her life and you are sympathetic to that, but your reputation is on the line, and I hope people understand the gravity of the charges made against you and what a fair process looks like."

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