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Kavanaugh confirmed as Supreme Court justice; Idaho senators vote 'yea'

Sens. Mike Crapo and Jim Risch have backed both of President Trump's Supreme Court nominees.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Both of Idaho's U.S. senators voted Saturday to confirm Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.

Sens. Mike Crapo and James Risch, both Republicans, have expressed support for Kavanaugh since President Donald Trump nominated the D.C. Circuit Court judge to succeed Justice Anthony Kennedy, who retired at the end of July.

Kavanaugh won confirmation Saturday afternoon in a 50-48 Senate vote. The two-vote margin was one of the narrowest ever for a Supreme Court nominee. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) asked to be recorded as "present." On Friday, Murkowski voted against moving ahead with the final confirmation vote, but decided to vote "present" in the final vote as a courtesy to Sen. Steve Daines (R-Montana) so that Daines could attend his daughter's wedding and miss Saturday's vote without affecting the outcome.

President Trump watched the vote Saturday aboard Air Force One as he flew to a campaign rally in Kansas. He invited reporters to join him as the votes were tallied.

The Senate confirmed Kavanaugh despite the allegations of sexual misconduct against him, allegations that Kavanaugh denied.

Related story: Protesters disrupt final vote to confirm Kavanaugh as a Supreme Court justice

Related story: Emotions run high at 'Stop Kavanaugh' protest at Boise City Hall

Kavanaugh was sworn in as a Supreme Court associate justice late Saturday afternoon. Chief Justice John Roberts administered the Constitutional Oath and retired Justice Kennedy administered the Judicial Oath in a private ceremony.

A formal investiture ceremony will take place at a special sitting of the court at a later date.

Senators Crapo and Risch, who have backed both of President Trump's Supreme Court nominees, issued statements shortly after Saturday's vote. Rep. Mike Simpson (R-Idaho) posted a short statement on Twitter, applauding Kavanaugh's confirmation.

Sen. Crapo won his fourth term in the Senate in the 2016 election. Sen. Risch was elected to his second term in 2014.

Statement from Sen. Jim Risch:

“Judge Kavanaugh is without doubt one of the most qualified people to be nominated to America’s highest court. His judicial philosophy most closely mirrors former Justice Scalia. They both start with the proposition that the court’s job is not to make law but to apply the constitution and statutes as they were written, to the facts of a case. Very late in the confirmation process serious allegations were made against Judge Kavanaugh. Such allegations must be taken seriously and must be soberly evaluated. Judge Kavanaugh has undergone seven FBI investigations including one specifically reviewing the last-minute allegations. In all, over 150 people were interviewed by the FBI. Having served as a prosecutor and made thousands of decisions regarding whether a person had committed an offense and should be charged, and having reviewed thousands of investigations by law enforcement, this decision process is not foreign or uncomfortable for me. All inquiries must start with the constitutional due process requirement that all are presumed innocent until proven guilty regardless of who they are and regardless of the nature or seriousness of the alleged offense. The investigations of Judge Kavanaugh did not come close to overcoming the presumption of innocence. The investigations corroborated the assertion of innocence by the accused and in no way corroborated the claim of the accuser. Therefore, justice demands that we act on the corroborated evidence or lack thereof before us. The allegations, though serious, were not proven nor close to proven. Given that, the path forward was clear. I believe Judge Kavanaugh will serve on the Supreme Court with distinction."

Statement from Sen. Mike Crapo

“Judge Kavanaugh is a mainstream jurist with a clear record of applying the law as written, consistent with the Constitution. His record as a member of the D.C. Circuit Court shows he has voted with the majority of that court 97 percent of the time, and his reasoning has been adopted by the U.S. Supreme Court thirteen times. The FBI conducted a seventh supplemental background investigation following the sincere testimonies given by both Dr. Ford and Judge Kavanaugh. All witnesses said to have direct knowledge of the allegations as well as others who might have indirect information were interviewed. Neither the FBI nor the Senate Judiciary Committee, in their separate investigations--both conducted under penalty of felony--found evidence corroborating the allegations made against Judge Kavanaugh. Moreover, the FBI has interviewed 150 people in its seven investigations of Judge Kavanaugh over the past 25 years and has found no evidence of this kind of behavior. What the investigations have shown is that Judge Kavanaugh is well qualified for the positions to which he has been nominated. Having weighed the over 500,000 documents provided, five days of public testimony and the thorough vetting completed on Judge Kavanaugh, I voted to confirm Judge Brett Kavanaugh as a justice of the Supreme Court.”

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