By Valerie Richardson - The Washington Times - Friday, September 28, 2018

Calls from the left to impeach Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh if reaches the Supreme Court — or even if he doesn’t — soared Friday as a vote on his nomination moved toward the Senate floor.

Democratic resistance groups such as the Democratic Coalition, Build the Wave and Demand Justice sought to whip up support for impeachment based on allegations of sexual misconduct against Mr. Kavanaugh, which he has denied.

The House may vote to impeach a federal judge with a simple majority, after which the Senate would hold a trial and vote on whether to convict and remove the jurist from office, which requires a two-thirds vote.

“If the GOP confirms Kavanaugh that just means we have 2 sexual predators to impeach after we flip congress,” tweeted Build the Wave’s Ryan Knight.

Business Insider correspondent Pedro da Costa chimed in, “Don’t forget [Justice Clarence] Thomas. We can impeach Thomas.”

Leftist group CREDO Action posted a petition Friday calling for Democrats to commit to impeach Mr. Kavanaugh if they regain the House majority “whether he is on the D.C. Circuit or on the Supreme Court.”

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, Rhode Island Democrat, fueled impeachment talk when he said last week that Democrats would investigate the allegations against Mr. Kavanaugh even if he is a sitting justice on the Supreme Court.

“Even if they were to ram this guy through, as soon as Democrats get the gavels we’re going to want to get to the bottom of this,” Mr. Whitehouse told CNN’s Jake Tapper.

Rep. Ted Lieu, California Democrat, called Wednesday on the House Judiciary Committee to begin an investigation “to see if he should be impeached,” a scenario that becomes far more likely if the Democrats take the House in November.

He also noted Friday that if Democrats control the House, “we will control subpoena power. We could subpoena Mark Judge.”

Palo Alto University professor Christine Blasey Ford alleged that Mr. Judge was in the room when Mr. Kavanaugh pinned her to a bed and groped her 36 years ago when they were in high school, which both men have denied.

Conservatives have characterized the impeachment calls as a fundraising tactic, given the low probability of securing a two-thirds Senate vote to convict Mr. Kavanaugh.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, South Carolina Republican, argued Thursday that “you could not get a search warrant or an arrest warrant” based on the testimony of Ms. Blasey Ford, who has been unable to remember the location or date of the alleged assault.

Only 15 federal judges in U.S. history have been impeached and only eight convicted and removed, most recently U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Porteous of Louisiana on corruption charges in 2010, according to Constitutional Law Reporter.

• Valerie Richardson can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com.

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