Matthew Long, who worked with Rachel Mitchell, the sex crimes prosecutor who questioned Brett Kavanaugh accuser Christine Blasey Ford on behalf of Republicans on the Judiciary Committee, told MSNBC Monday that his former colleague had allowed politics to influence her statement that Dr. Ford's case was weak. He also said she had only been hired for the appearances' sake.
"My concern is that she still is allowing politics to bleed into her judgment here," Long told host Hallie Jackson, saying there wasn't enough evidence for Mitchell to make a decision. "What's really been raised here is that everybody is fighting for this seat, so everybody's opinion should be questioned."
Jackson asked why Mitchell had only opined on Ford's testimony and said nothing about Kavanaugh's. Long was dismissive, saying the hearing was all for show "so the Republicans could point to something other than their own judgment."
"We certainly don't have the investigation that Ms. Mitchell would have required in order to make that judgment, so I find her opinion on this a bit disingenuous, considering that wouldn't be the standard she would apply for her own office", he said.
Long essentially said the GOP had used Ms. Mitchell, saving particularly harsh words for South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham
"She approaches her job from a fact-based approach, he said of Mitchell. The Republicans "realized they didn't want a fact-based or evidence-based approach, but rather than emotional approach. Lindsey Graham provided that in spades."
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This image obtained from the Mississippi Highway Patrol shows emergency personnel on Highway 49 near Silver City after a tornado touched down © Handout / Mississippi Highway Patrol/AFP
