AG Rutledge supportive of Kavanaugh nomination, hopes political motivation not behind women’s accusations

Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge, an early supporter of U.S. Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, still believes he should be on the nation’s high court and she fears the allegations against him are being motivated by political partisans.

In a Monday (Sept. 24) interview with Talk Business & Politics, Rutledge said the late timing of the accusations that Kavanaugh was involved in sexual misconduct or assault and the lack of specifics regarding the incidents are of concern to her.

“I stand behind the nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh,” Rutledge said. “These women who are making these allegations should certainly be heard. However, there is nothing that I have seen yet, there are no specific dates, there’s no specific time, there’s no specific instances that they have alleged that he has committed these acts. These allegations are coming in at the 11th hour. I hope that these women are not being used. That’s what my fear is, that these women are being used by Democratic senators and others to stall this nomination from going forward.”

Kavanaugh has had two accusers – Dr. Christine Blasey Ford and Deborah Ramirez – who allege he committed unwanted sexual conduct towards them when he was in high school and college. The uproar has roiled a Senate confirmation hearing for Kavanaugh and created a partisan firestorm on Capitol Hill. Tentatively, a hearing on the accusations from Dr. Ford is scheduled on Thursday and Kavanaugh is expected to testify.

In defending President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court pick, Rutledge said it would take the high hurdle of admission to convince her that Kavanaugh committed the acts of which he is accused.

“If there are factual, true, these allegations turn out to be factual truth, Judge Kavanaugh says, ‘Yes, this did in fact happen,’ then it would certainly, I think, change everyone’s consideration for him as a judge,” she said.

“However, what we are seeing from the Democratic Party, from these senators, are absolute hypocrisy. We have a Congressman who’s number two at the Democratic National Committee, Representative Keith Ellison, who very serious sexual abuse charges have been alleged against the number two at the Democratic National Committee. Total silence on behalf of the Democrats. Where are they on this?” Rutledge asked.

“I believe in supporting those who have, victims of domestic violence, of any kind of violence, that’s why I have printed and put forward over 90,000 of Laura’s Card, so that way victims of domestic violence have a voice. They know they can go to law enforcement. They know where to get resources. But we must not use these victims as a pawn for political purposes. Unfortunately, that’s what I believe Senator Feinstein, Senator Gillibrand, and other leading Democrats are doing, are using these women as pawns to push forward a political agenda,” Rutledge said.

Rutledge also discussed a variety of other topics in the Talk Business & Politics interview, including thoughts on federal regulatory relief, lawsuits she has joined to reverse several Obama administration laws and regulations, the re-start of executions in Arkansas, and public corruption in state government.

You can watch the full interview below.