Senator Doug Jones (D-Mountain Brook) says it is time to move on from any discussions regarding the impeachment of U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh that stem from allegations in a New York Times report, which has since been revised by editors given the incomplete information in the initial report.
On Sunday, Jones had said during an MSNBC appearance if Kavanaugh lied to the Senate Judiciary Committee during his confirmation hearings, impeachment could be a consideration. However, in a later appearance also on MSNBC, he later ruled out impeachment after The New York Times issued a clarification about the piece.
During his TV media call on Thursday, Jones called the premise of ever being a supporter of Kavanaugh’s impeachment a “complete mischaracterization.”
“That’s a complete mischaracterization of what I said when those allegations came out in The New York Times,” Jones explained. “I said perjury is a serious allegation, and judges have been removed for perjury. But I didn’t say — I didn’t call for impeachment inquiry at that time. Since that Sunday, when I was asked about it, The New York Times retracted that. I think I’ve made it pretty clear since then that I don’t think an impeachment inquiry would be appropriate.”
Jones went on to express his concerns about the confirmation process but insisted that it was time to move on from the discussion of an impeachment inquiry.
“What did concern me about this — and I’ve said this consistently is that I thought the process that we went through with the Kavanaugh nomination was a flawed process,” Jones added. “It was not a process that was full, fair and complete. And I think that is a mistake. It is a mistake that the Judiciary Committee made and it sets a bad precedent. We just saw as part of this that a U.S. Senator’s letter concerning a potential witness was apparently ignored. That’s not a good thing.”
“So, I have criticized the process,” he continued. “I don’t think it was good. I think it was flawed. But at the same time, I don’t think what I’ve seen now would rise to anything involving an impeachment inquiry. We need to just move on. We’ve got a lot to do in the Senate and the House these days — Iran, gun violence, you name it. We just need to move on.”
@Jeff_Poor is a graduate of Auburn University, the editor of Breitbart TV and host of “The Jeff Poor Show” from 2-5 p.m. on WVNN in Huntsville.
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