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Gov. Baker, On Kavanaugh: 'There Should Be No Vote In The Senate'

Charlie Baker (Jesse Costa/WBUR)
Charlie Baker (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker says accusations of sexual misconduct brought against Brett Kavanaugh, a President Trump nominee for the U.S. Supreme Court, "are sickening and deserve an independent investigation," and without that investigation the nomination should be withdrawn.

Baker, a Republican like Trump, told reporters Wednesday that he thinks there should not be a U.S. Senate vote on Kavanaugh until an investigation is complete.

He reiterated that point in a tweet Thursday morning, just as a high-profile Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, with Kavanaugh and one of his accusers, Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, was getting underway.

"I said that there should be a formal investigation, an independent formal investigation, and I said that because I believe Professor Ford," Baker told reporters later on Thursday. "And if people don't do the investigation I don't believe that he would be fit for the job because this is a critical issue."

Since Ford first went public with her allegations, two more women have stepped forward alleging inappropriate behavior toward women by Kavanaugh and his friends during high school and college.

Kavanaugh has denied all allegations against him. Trump has stood by his nominee.

Massachusetts U.S. Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey, both Democrats, had said they would vote against Kavanaugh's nomination, even before the accusations of sexual misconduct surfaced.

Warren said Thursday that the Senate should postpone a confirmation vote.

"There needs to be a full FBI investigation," she said. "Not to do so is an insult to the American people."

Asked Wednesday how Geoff Diehl, Warren's Republican challenger, thinks the Senate should proceed in light of new allegations, a spokeswoman for Diehl said: "Unlike Warren, Geoff will not jump to conclusions. As [legal expert] Alan Dershowitz has advocated, Geoff supports due process."

A WBUR poll released this week found Baker, who's up for re-election in November, is 44 percentage points ahead of his Democratic challenger, Jay Gonzalez.

The poll found that a plurality of Massachusetts likely voters  — 34 percent — believe Baker tends to take positions more similar to the Democratic Party than the Republican Party.

With reporting by State House News Service's Matt Murphy and WBUR's Anthony Brooks

This article was originally published on September 27, 2018.

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