Mazie K. Hirono (D - HI) Definitely No 2018 election seat
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September 25: [Q:] So it sounds like you don’t think he’s credible or ready for this promotion [to the Supreme Court], as you put it. [A:] Definitely not. And by the way, I think it’s very telling that both Dr. Ford and Ms. Ramirez have asked for an F.B.I. investigation, but he has totally resisted. (Note: We have not yet confirmed the exact date of these comments, but they appear to have taken place on or around 9/25/2018.) (The New York Times)
September 23: I'm writing to you today because I am angry. I am angry at the way Senate Republicans and Donald Trump's administration are treating Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, who last week bravely came forward to share her story about Trump's Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. I am angry that Trump and his cronies will do absolutely anything to take over the Court—even if it means putting an alleged sexual predator on the bench. I am angry that some of the very same senators who smeared and humiliated Anita Hill 27 years ago are trying to get away with it again. And I am angry that Dr. Blasey Ford is being forced to endure this patently unfair process while facing ruthless intimidation and even threats to her life. (MoveOn fundraising email)
September 19: On Wednesday, she doubled down, saying on CNN’s “New Day” that “this kind of behavior — sexual harassment, sexual assault — it’s been going on." “It’s not just something for the women in this country to care about,” she said, “it’s for all of us. That’s why I’ve said to the men: ‘Just shut up and step up.’ And you know, for the men who are offended by this, you should ask yourself: Why are you offended by this? Why don’t you ask yourself: What about this offends you? We should all be holding together. We should all be treating each other like human beings.” (The Washington Post)
September 18: "I expect all of the enlightened men in our country, 'cause there must be millions of men out there who are enlightened, who also will rise up to say we cannot continue the victimization and the smearing of someone like Dr. Ford,” Hirono said. “And you know what, she is under no obligation to participate in the Republican efforts to sweep this whole thing under the rug, to continue this nomination on the fast track and to participate in a smear campaign and basically a railroad job. This is what they did to Anita Hill.”...“Guess who is perpetrating all of these kinds of actions? It’s the men in this country,” Hirono said. “I just want to say to the men in this country: Just shut up and step up. Do the right thing, for a change.” (The Washington Post)
September 18: Senator Mazie Hirono thinks Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh is not telling the truth about the sexual assault he allegedly committed as a teenager. She thinks he wasn’t telling the truth to the Judiciary Committee when he claimed not to remember any sexual misconduct by a judge he clerked for who was forced to resign last year after allegations from more than a dozen women. And the Hawaii Democrat says that if she gets to question Kavanaugh in another hearing, she’s going to tell him that the revelations over the weekend—when Christine Blasey Ford came forward to accuse Kavanaugh of attempting to rape her at a high-school party in the early ’80s—now make her doubt what the nominee said under oath two weeks ago even more. (Note: We have not yet confirmed the exact date of these comments, but they appear to have taken place on or around 9/18/2018.) (Politico)
September 16: It took a lot of courage for Christine Blasey Ford to come forward to share her story of sexual assault by Brett Kavanaugh. Her story is very credible and I believe her. As I said during the hearing, this is why the #MeToo movement is so important, because often in these situations, there is an environment where people see nothing, hear nothing, and say nothing. That is what we have to change. This development is yet another reason not to rush Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination. The Committee should postpone this week’s vote. (senate.gov)
August 24: Given the possibility of criminal wrongdoing by the President, doubts that Judge Kavanaugh believes a president can even be investigated, and the unprecedented lack of transparency regarding this nominee's record, we should not move forward with hearings on September 4th. Instead, we should have a special meeting of the Committee to discuss a bipartisan, fair, and transparent process for moving forward. (Twitter)
August 22: Mr. Chairman, I want to take a moment to react to yesterday’s news of the conviction of the President’s campaign chairman and the guilty plea of his personal lawyer to crimes, at the direction of the President, designed to influence the 2016 election. As I and others have said many times in the last two years, these are not normal times. And these are certainly not the times for this Committee to consider a Supreme Court nominee of this President, especially a nominee who thinks the President should be immune from investigation. We cannot abandon common sense in this dangerous time for our democracy. So, as I have said before, we should delay this hearing for Judge Kavanaugh. For so many reasons it is not the time. I will also be cancelling my meeting with Judge Kavanaugh. This President, who is an unindicted co-conspirator in a criminal matter, does not deserve the courtesy of a meeting with his nominee—purposely selected to protect, as we say in Hawaii, his own okole. (senate.gov)
August 22: I will be voting no on Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation to the Supreme Court of the United States. (senate.gov)
August 21: The critical comments come just two weeks before Hirono and fellow members of the Senate Judiciary Committee will begin confirmation hearings. She wants to hear how, if at all, Kavanaugh will protect the Obama-era legislation. “His dissents indicate serious concerns that I would have about his ability to be fair and impartial,” Hirono said of Kavanaugh’s judicial record. (Erie News Now)
August 10: The Judiciary Committee and the American people should have access to the full range of documents regarding Brett Kavanaugh, just as they did for the nomination of Elena Kagan. Chairman Grassley and Republicans on the Judiciary Committee, however, decided that the documents cherry-picked by Judge Kavanaugh’s own deputy in the White House are sufficient and have scheduled a hearing on September 4 in order to rush his nomination through. These are the same people who stonewalled President Obama’s Supreme Court nominee for over a year in order to place Neil Gorsuch – an ideologically-driven conservative vetted and supported by the Federalist Society and Heritage Foundation – on the Court. They are trying to do this again with Judge Kavanaugh. They have no shame. (senate.gov)
August 8: Hirono has other concerns about Kavanaugh, too. She’s worried how he would rule on women’s reproductive rights ― he once argued that it would be an undue burden on Catholic employers to fill out a form saying they did not want employees to get contraceptive coverage ― and on challenges to the Affordable Care Act. She said he also has a pattern of narrowly interpreting laws that regulate clean air and water. The amount of preparation she’s doing for the Supreme Court hearing was evident by the four large binders on her desk, each full of hundreds of pages of records on Kavanaugh. She’s got tabs on dozens of pages and notes scribbled throughout. She started flipping through one of the binders to show all the notes she’s been taking. “What?? What the heck is that?” reads one message she wrote to herself. Another page had a pink sticky note with one word on it: “What?!” Hirono knows it is unlikely that Democrats can stop Kavanaugh’s confirmation. Republicans are in the majority, and red-state Democrats up for re-election in November may end up supporting him. But she said it’s crucial that Democrats put up a big fight, if only to remind the public what they stand for. “There are some battles that are worth fighting, regardless of the outcomes,” said Hirono. “I’m hopeful the people in our country will realize these judges who are appointed for life are going to make decisions that affect their life every single day ― and that this is the lasting legacy of Trump.” (Note: We have not yet confirmed the exact date of these comments, but they appear to have taken place on or around 8/8/2018.) (Huffington Post)
August 8: “Chairman Grassley's shameful, partisan decision to keep us from examining Brett Kavanaugh's full record leaves us with no alternative but to make a Freedom of Information Act request for the release of the same types of materials that were released for past nominees. The U.S. Senate and the American people deserve to see what Judge Kavanaugh wrote and said about important policy matters, including torture, health care, reproductive rights, environmental regulation, workers’ rights, and more while he served as George W. Bush’s right hand man,” said Hirono. (senate.gov)
August 3: Earlier this week, I joined activists in front of the Capitol to lay out #WhatsAtStake with Brett Kavanaugh's nomination-- a woman's right to choose, laws that defend our safety and the environment, and protections that ensure that millions of Americans can afford health care. (Instagram)
July 29: And now that Trump has nominated another far-right conservative to the Supreme Court, I'm fighting -- again -- for a woman's right to choose what she does with her body. We will not go back to the days when women struggled to access abortion and reproductive health care. Every day I go to work to defend the voices that Donald Trump and his administration want to blot out, and I need you to join me in that fight... (Democratic Party fundraising email)
July 10: The burden of the proof is on him, which means that I am leaning no but maybe he can convince me to vote for him. This is a big burden on him to show me he can be fair and objective. (CNN)
July 9: Judge Brett Kavanaugh has not earned the benefit of the doubt. He has the burden of proof to demonstrate his ability to be independent of @realDonaldTrump and exercise unbiased and independent judgment. #WhatsAtStake...As a federal appellate court Judge, Kavanaugh’s record is replete with decisions favoring the privileged and powerful. His writings & rulings show a determination to restrict reproductive freedom & strip federal agencies of their power to protect our water, air, and safety. Kavanaugh has advocated that Congress legislate to exempt U.S. presidents from civil and criminal actions while in office. This is of deep concern at a time when Donald Trump is a defendant in numerous civil lawsuits and is the subject of a significant criminal investigation. (Twitter)