Senior Senate Republicans said a vote in the full Senate could happen as early as next Tuesday. "By hiring a private attorney to cross-examine Dr. Blasey Ford, Republicans are trying to intimidate her and avoid being held accountable by voters," Harris said in a Twitter posting. Senate confirmation of Kavanaugh, a conservative federal appeals court judge chosen by Trump for a lifetime post on the high court, has been imperilled by the decades-old allegations by Ford and another woman, Deborah Ramirez. Kavanaugh's confirmation would firm up conservative control of the Supreme Court and advance Trump's goal of moving the high court and the broader federal judiciary to the right. McConnell said the outside lawyer would question Ford "in a respectful and professional way."

Source: dna September 26, 2018 01:18 UTC