Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-HI) asked Supreme Court nominee Judge Amy Coney Barrett if she has ever sexually assaulted a person.
On the second day of the Senate Judiciary Committee’s confirmation hearings for Barrett, Hirono asked the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals judge if she had ever been involved in sexual assault or disciplined for sexual assault.
The exchange went as follows:
Hirono: I ask each nominee these two questions and I will ask them of you. Since you became a legal adult, have you ever made unwanted requests for sexual favors or committed any verbal or physical harassment or assault of a sexual nature?
Barrett: No, Senator Hirono.
Hirono: Have you ever faced discipline or entered into a settlement related to this kind of conduct.
Barrett: No, Senator.
Before asking Barrett if she had ever sexually assaulted anyone, Hirono said that it is part of her “responsibility as a member on this committee, and indeed all of the committees on which I sit, to ensure the fitness of lifetime nominees for a lifetime appointment to the federal bench.”
“Judge Barrett, Chief Justice John Roberts has recognized that, and I quote him, ‘The judicial branch is not immune’ from the widespread problem of sexual harassment and assault and has taken steps to address this in the judiciary,” Hirono said.
Hirono asked Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh the same two questions during his confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Hirono called for a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) into Kavanaugh at the time, saying the agency needed to determine whether Kavanaugh was a “very belligerent, aggressive drunk.”
Story cited here.
