Doug Jones (D - AL) Definitely No
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September 27: The Kavanaugh nomination process has been flawed from the beginning and incomplete at the end. Dr. Ford was credible and courageous and I am concerned about the message our vote will be sending to our sons and daughters, as well as victims of sexual assault. I will be voting no. (senate.gov)
September 25: Jones has tweeted repeatedly about the importance of a thorough investigation into Ford’s allegation, and said Tuesday that he also would wait until Thursday to announce his decision. “I’m going through the process," he said. (Politico)
September 20: Senate Republicans are attempting to make Dr. Blasey Ford testify on just a few days’ notice—without having the FBI follow up on her allegations and provide a report first. This strikes us as simply a check-the-box exercise in a rush to confirm Judge Kavanaugh. It is for this reason that we urge you to reconsider your decision and ask the FBI to take appropriate action in response to the claims that have been made, so that Judge Kavanaugh’s nomination can be considered by the Senate in a manner that is both consistent with past practices and fair to the parties involved and the American people. (senate.gov)
September 19: “First of all, I think the FBI needs to do a background check update on Brett Kavanaugh,” Jones said. “The fact that the president says the FBI doesn’t do it, is just not the case, they do it all the time with nominations.”...Jones said the process is being rushed, using artificial deadlines. “The fact is, we need to make sure we get it right, not that we get it according to a clock that Chairman Grassley set,” Jones said. Jones said he understands claims like the Kavanaugh accusation are hard on the accuser and the accused. “I’m a former prosecutor, I know how hard it is for victims to talk about their experiences, particularly in the case of sexual assault,” he said...“We need to be able to test these allegations, out of fairness to both Dr. Ford and to Judge Kavanaugh,” Jones said. “A public hearing before the full committee would be a spectacle without a true fact-finding mission that goes on a non-partisan basis." The committee doesn’t plan to call an alleged witness to testify, Kavanaugh friend Mark Judge. Jones thinks the committee should subpoena Judge and hear from all three people. “Have the witnesses come testify, and to testify under oath,” Jones said. “That oath, that oath a witness takes, means something and the witnesses know that.“ (Note: We have not yet confirmed the exact date of these comments, but they appear to have taken place on or around 9/19/2018.) (WHNT.com)
September 16: In a tweet after The Post’s report, Sen. Doug Jones (D-Ala.) said it was “a very brave step” by Ford to come forward. “It is more important than ever to hit the pause button on Kavanaugh’s confirmation vote until we can fully investigate these serious and disturbing allegations. We cannot rush to move forward under this cloud,” said Jones, a potentially key swing vote who has not announced whether he will support Kavanaugh’s nomination. (The Washington Post)
August 22: Sen. Doug Jones, D-Ala., added his name to the handful of Democrats who on Wednesday said that Brett Kavanaugh's Supreme Court nomination should be held up in light of the guilty plea of the president's former personal lawyer and the eight guilty verdicts against President Trump's former campaign manager, Paul Manafort. Jones said Kavanaugh's nomination should be held up not just because of those legal cases. Alabama's junior senator cited the trove of documents that the Senate Judiciary Committee has yet to obtain from Kavnaugh's tenure as President George W. Bush's staff secretary. "I think we need to push a pause button right now and let this play out just a little bit," the senator told MSNBC. "And you couple [the legal cases] with the fact that we haven't got the full set of documents, I think it only makes sense."...Jones said the Manafort convictions and the Cohen plea - which he called "two bombshells" - are "undermining this presidency." He said the cases also make Kavanaugh's stance on presidential power more relevant. "You cant ever determine where this will end up. But I think it does raise the stakes a bit on that part of the Kavanaugh record," Jones said. While some Democrats have cancelled meetings with Kavnaugh following the legal developments, Jones has not gone that far. "If the schedule holds, then yes, I'm going to go forward with it," he said. "I'm not going to cancel that." (AL.com)
August 8: Sen. Doug Jones said Wednesday he won't let the pressure from both sides of the political spectrum factor into his decision on whether to approve Brett Kavanaugh for the U.S. Supreme Court..."The issue for me is simply that I am going to do what I think. I'm doing my homework. I'm going to do everything I can. I'm working on the Brett Kavanuagh thing, I know there's a lot of interest in that. I haven't made up my mind yet. It could go either way, I don't know," Jones told the Birmingham Rotary Club at the Harbert Center. "Because I believe that the Senate of the United States has a shared responsibility for Supreme Court nominations. It's an independent, shared responsibility with the president. Frankly, advice and consent has been ceded. The president didn't need advice from the Senate before he did this, but he needs our consent. Well, that not my job to just rubber stamp, me or anybody else." After his speech, Jones said he was looking at Kavanaugh's speeches, opinions and writings, and said at a town hall in Hoover late last month that he was also looking through Kavanaugh's record to get a sense of his judicial philosophy. "He's got a large body of work," Jones told the Rotary Club of Kavanaugh, who aside from being a D.C. Circuit Court Judge also served as President George W. Bush's staff secretary. "At the end of the day, I'm going to make a decision one way or the other that I'm going to live with and justify to you, whether you agree with it or not."...With Kavanaugh up for a lifetime appointment, Jones said the Senate does not have to be hasty with the nomination. "This is not something that needs to be rushed. If it is something that could have and should be rushed, then we could have had Merrick Garland on the bench two years ago," he said. (AL.com)
August 3: I really believe the Constitution is set up in such a way that the Senate has a shared responsibility with the president for judicial nominations, and that’s particularly important for Supreme Court. I think my job is to do an independent review. One of the problems in America I believe we have now is that everybody goes to their corners, and this is a political fight. I see the TV ads and the millions of dollars that are being spent like a political campaign. We’re supposed to have an independent judiciary. That’s why they’re there for life. It’s part of our checks and balances. And I think we’re in a really bad place when this has become political campaigns. So, I’m trying to block those kind of issues out – all of the extraneous stuff and do my due diligence. So we have been gathering information. Brett Kavanaugh has a large body of work, both as a judge and as a member of the Bush administration. I need to look and see as much as I can on that. We’re getting his opinions, his speeches. We’re looking at other records that we’ll be getting from the White House. Frankly, I think we may be rushing this a little bit too much because of the significant number of records. But that’s not my call...As of right now, I plan on waiting to meet with him. I do hope to meet with him, but my view is that I should wait until after the hearing – he has his hearing. I don’t want my meeting with him or any judge to be a meet-and-greet, or to be a photo-op. It needs to be a substantive meeting on questions that I’ve found, that I want to ask him on a variety of issues. So I would like to do that because some of them may be covered in a hearing. I may need a follow-up after that. Ideally, I would meet with him afterward, but we’re waiting to see depending on when that hearing is going to be because I would like to be able to have that hearing, meet with him and then at that point try to do whatever I need to do to make my decision. (YouTube)
August 2: Jones said Thursday he’s continuing to study Kavanaugh’s record, trying to better understand him. “His judicial philosophy, and whether that is a philosophy vs. an agenda,” Jones said. Much of the pressure on the nomination comes down to the conservative push to overturn Roe vs. Wade. But Jones said he’s taking a broader view. “But on specific issues, I’ve really not focused on that as much,” he said. “I certainly don’t want to comment on those at this point.” Jones has plans to check lots of material over the Senate’s August recess. He’s also hopeful Republicans will agree to release more records related to Kavanaugh’s work in President George W. Bush’s administration and while assisting Special Counsel Kenneth Starr’s investigation of President Bill Clinton. “I want to keep an open mind, and not try to box in any one particular issue.” The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee hasn’t set a hearing date yet. Jones said he expects to meet with the nominee after those hearings, but before a floor vote. (WHNT 19 News)
August 1: Dem AL Sen Jones on ad campaigns for/against Kavanaugh: Why is someone advertising they want him confirmed? Why is someone advertising they don’t want him confirmed?..There’s an agenda there..you’re either for the President or you’re not. I'm not here to be a rubber-stamp...Dem AL Sen Doug Jones on if he'd vote for Kavanaugh: I’m prepared to vote for a conservative justice…The question is whether I’m prepared to vote for this justice..I don’t know how I’m going to vote either way (Twitter)
July 27: U.S. Sen. Doug Jones of Alabama said he is keeping an “open mind” on President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh and is not worried about a flurry of advertising pressuring him to confirm or reject the nominee. The Democratic senator told reporters Friday evening that he wants to do his “due diligence” on Kavanaugh’s work. “I want to keep an open mind on every aspect of it and look at a number of different things,” Jones said. Jones said the one concern he has is getting documents out of the White House. Democrats have asked to see records from Kavanaugh’s time there as White House staff secretary to President George W. Bush. With past nominees, everything was “turned over” unless there was a technical reason that it should be privileged, Jones said. “We need the information out of the White House,” Jones said. “We didn’t nominate him. The President did. He nominated him with a full knowing of his background. I would like to see them just say, ‘Look, OK, we will get this to you.’” (ALToday.com)
July 14: "I’ve got thoughts, but I’m not going to say. I want to do my investigative work. ... We’ll go from there...I’m going to do a deep dive of his record and we’ll talk about that record. I’ll make my judgment at that point." (Note: We have not yet confirmed the exact date of these comments, but they appear to have taken place on or around 7/14/2018.) (The Hill)
July 9: Tonight's announcement is only a first step. A thorough vetting of Judge Kavanaugh’s body of work will be critical for the Senate to fulfill its shared responsibility—which I take very seriously. I will be diligent in measuring the record and in undertaking an independent review. (Twitter)