Grassley politely shuts down Feinstein's latest attempt to stall Kavanaugh confirmation

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), the chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, politely rejected a demand from Democrats over new allegations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.

'Senate Democrats hid both allegations of misconduct...'

Grassley denied the demand from Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) in a letter released Tuesday. Feinstein asked that the testimony from Christine Blasey Ford on Thursday be delayed in order to investigate new claims of harassment.

"I respectfully decline your request," Grassley responded. "I am not going to silence Dr. Ford after I promised and assured her that I would provide her a safe, comfortable, and dignified opportunity to testify."

Grassley said it would be unfair to Ford and to Kavanaugh to delay their opportunities to give their testimonies. He also said both were facing threats and intimidation from political opponents.

"You suggest that Dr. Ford's testimony should be further delayed because of allegations made in The New Yorker by Deborah Ramirez," Grassley continued. "I am unclear why Ms. Ramirez's claims should have any bearing on Dr. Ford's testimony.

“In fact, the obvious connection between these two claims is that Senate Democrats hid both allegations of misconduct from the Committee and the public,” he said.

“Indeed,” Grassley concluded, “it was reportedly Senate Democratic staff who conveyed the allegations to the media rather than alert Republican staff to conduct a bipartisan investigation.”

Grassley also shot down the request to have the FBI investigate Ramirez's claims, saying that even the "liberal New York Times" didn't find the claims worth publishing.

Feinstein had tweeted about the demand to postpone the testimony Saturday.

"Thursday's hearing should be canceled in light of a disturbing new allegation of sexual misconduct against Brett Kavanaugh," she said. "The FBI must investigate ALL allegations."

Here's the latest on the Kavanaugh controversy: