Mississippi GOP senators: Dems trying to smear Kavanaugh

The Associated Press

Mississippi GOP senators: Dems trying to smear Kavanaugh

The Associated Press

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Mississippi's two Republican U.S. senators are expressing continued support of Brett Kavanaugh's nomination to the Supreme Court.

Roger Wicker and Cindy Hyde-Smith issued statements Monday saying they think Democrats are unfairly trying to damage the reputation of Kavanaugh, who is a federal appeals court judge.

The Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to hear Thursday from Kavanaugh and a woman who says he sexually assaulted her when they were teenagers in the 1980s. Kavanaugh denies wrongdoing.

Hyde-Smith says any sexual assault is "unacceptable," but she believes there's "a major partisan effort" to undermine Kavanaugh's character and nomination.

Wicker says he sees "a coordinated campaign designed to smear Judge Kavanaugh" and Senate Democrats "are not interested in truth or justice."

Hyde-Smith and Wicker are both on the ballot in November.