Republicans ditched their 'female assistant' after questions about key entry in Kavanaugh's calendar

Republicans had several reasons for abandoning the questioning by sex crimes prosecutor Rachel Mitchell during Thursday’s hearing on sexual assault allegations against Brett Kavanaugh. She was only there to begin with to keep them from looking sexist in questioning Christine Blasey Ford. She wasn’t grandstanding in active defense of Kavanaugh, or as Sen. John Cornyn put it, “Frankly, I think there was some frustration among the senators that they thought there were arguments that needed to be made, that she frankly was not equipped to make.” And she might have been getting uncomfortably close to some awkward subjects for Kavanaugh. 

During her last set of questions to Kavanaugh, before Mitchell was unceremoniously displaced by ranting Republicans, she did ask about that very interesting entry on Kavanaugh’s July 1982 calendar that showed him having “skis” with the very same people who Ford remembered attending the gathering at which Kavanaugh assaulted her. Mitchell didn't ask, or allowed Kavanaugh to evade, what was meant by “skis.” She let him get away with this answer without following up:

MITCHELL: Is there anything that could even remotely fit what we’re talking about in terms of Dr. Ford’s allegations?

KAVANAUGH: No.

But maybe—even though Mitchell seems to have known that that was a no-go zone—it was still too close for comfort, contributing to the Republican gear-shifting.

Mostly, though, it seems like Republicans knew they had to take control of the hearing and give voters something to remember other than how incredibly compelling and courageous Christine Blasey Ford’s testimony was.

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