Attempting to impeach newly confirmed Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, while difficult, could be possible if Democrats win the Senate or House in the November midterm elections, New Jersey Senator Cory Booker said. Booker and other Democrats have floated impeaching Kavanaugh over sexual assault accusations he faced from three women, and allegations that he committed perjury when he testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee about claims made about him. The Democratic senator told Yahoo on Sunday that the FBI failed to interview "multiple people" that Deborah Ramirez, one of Kavanaugh's accusers, claimed could corroborate her allegations that the judge exposed himself to her when they studied at Yale University. "I think the way the FBI was limited in their investigation was a sham. There were so many things even in the handful of interviews they did do that would have motivated investigators to ask more questions, interview more people," Booker said. "Clearly the FBI was severely constrained in the scope of their investigation in a way that did not honor the courage of the survivors who came forward." Booker said there were "a number of things that the FBI could have easily investigated to see if he was lying about his past conduct," adding that Kavanaugh should be subject to further investigation. "If there is conclusory evidence that shows unequivocally that he lied to a Senate committee, that is a crime and he should be held accountable for those criminal acts," Booker said. However, Booker said impeaching Kavanaugh was contingent on at least one big win by Democrats in the midterms. "The reality is, right now, Republicans control the House and the Senate, and there's no way to do even an investigation unless we flip one of the houses," he said. "So I think even before you start focusing on questions about his truthfulness before a Senate committee, you've got to focus on the urgency of the work over the next 30 days, and that's where my focus is." Even if Democrats win one of the houses of Congress, impeaching Kavanaugh will require some heavy lifting. Democrats would have to win a House majority and control the judiciary committee; then a supermajority of 67 in the Senate would be required to remove Kavanaugh from the Supreme Court. Only one Supreme Court justice has been removed in United States history. The prospects of Democrats winning the House are high, but lower for the Senate, and obtaining the 67 seats required to complete Kavanaugh's impeachment is out of the question.<doc-sep>DES MOINES, Iowa — New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker said on Sunday the possibility of impeaching Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh shouldn’t be off the table if Democrats take one of the houses of Congress in next month’s midterm elections. Kavanaugh was confirmed on Saturday by a narrow vote following a contentious process that included multiple sexual assault allegations. Other Democrats have raised the possibility of impeaching Kavanaugh over allegations that he committed perjury in his hearing at the Senate Judiciary Committee, on which Booker sits. News accounts have quoted acquaintances who contradict Kavanaugh’s testimony about his behavior as a young man, and evidence has surfaced calling into question some of his assertions about his time in the George W. Bush administration, but Kavanaugh insists he told the truth. Impeachment would require the Democrats to win a House majority and control that chamber’s judiciary committee. The question would then go to trial in the Senate. Sen. Cory Booker speaks during the Iowa Democratic Party’s annual Fall Gala on Saturday in Des Moines, Iowa. (Photo: Charlie Neibergall/AP) “The reality is, right now, Republicans control the House and the Senate, and there’s no way to do even an investigation unless we flip one of the houses. So I think even before you start focusing on questions about his truthfulness before a Senate committee, you’ve got to focus on the urgency of the work over the next 30 days, and that’s where my focus is,” Booker said. Booker spoke to Yahoo in Iowa, where he is making multiple campaign appearances in support of Democratic congressional candidates. He said he is working to help secure a Democratic majority. After the midterms, Booker said, the party can determine what its priorities should be. “I think that after the dust settles on the night of the 6th, I think that’s where we start to evaluate … what is the best thing for us to be focusing on in terms of what’s best for America and the American people,” Booker said. Booker’s emphasis on the midterms echoed a speech he made at the Iowa Democratic Party’s fall gala Saturday night after his arrival in the state was delayed by the Kavanaugh vote on the Senate floor. In those remarks, Booker struck a hopeful note and urged Democrats who are “angry” and “upset” to “stay faithful.” He also cautioned members of the party against being “caught up in a state of sedentary agitation” and urged them “not to wait for the hope, but to be the hope.” In one of his calls to electoral action, Booker referenced comments President Trump made last week mocking one of Kavanaugh’s accusers, Dr. Christine Blasey Ford. Story continues Cory Booker and fellow Democrat Kamala Harris of California listen to Christine Blasey Ford’s testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee. (Photo: Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call/Pool/Getty Images) “We’re not defined by a president who mocks a hero in Dr. Blasey Ford. We’re not defined by a president who does not believe women. We’re going to be defined when this state says not only do we believe women, we elect women!” Booker said. The bar for impeachment is very high, and it has happened to a sitting Supreme Court justice only once in American history. Impeachment requires a House vote. If a majority of House members vote to impeach, the Senate holds a trial to weigh the charges. Conviction and removal from office requires a 67-vote supermajority in the Senate. Democrats have a strong chance of taking the House in the midterms. Rep. Jerrold Nadler of New York, who would most likely become chair of the House Judiciary Committee if the Democrats have a majority, has said he supports the idea of investigating Kavanaugh for perjury, which could begin an impeachment process. However, Democrats have much slimmer chances of taking control of the Senate, and there is no way they will come close to 67 seats. The perjury allegations against Kavanaugh come from three things: his denials of all the sexual assault accusations levied against him, his claims about his youthful drinking and evidence that he lied under oath during prior confirmation hearings. During his Supreme Court confirmation testimony, which was under penalty of perjury, Kavanaugh said he “never blacked out” while drinking as a young man. Since then, multiple people who knew Kavanaugh in college have come forward to say they witnessed Kavanaugh “stumbling drunk.” The allegations about previous perjury by Kavanaugh emerged based on emails from his time working on President George W. Bush’s White House staff that were released as part of his Supreme Court confirmation process. Those messages indicate Kavanaugh had received Democratic strategy memos that had been stolen in the early 2000s. In confirmation hearings held in 2004 and 2006 when Kavanaugh was nominated to federal judgeships, he denied receiving those memos. Supreme court nominee Brett Kavanaugh testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday. (Photo: Saul Loeb/Pool/AP) An FBI investigation into the sexual assault allegations was authorized by the White House after the Republican leadership of the Senate Judiciary Committee requested it. The White House limited the scope of the investigation and insisted that it be completed in seven days; the FBI ultimately finished after five days. Republicans have called the FBI investigation a thorough exoneration. Booker, who read the FBI’s full report on the probe, said it was unsatisfactory. “I think the way the FBI was limited in their investigation was a sham. There were so many things even in the handful of interviews they did do that would have motivated investigators to ask more questions, interview more people,” Booker said. “Clearly the FBI was severely constrained in the scope of their investigation in a way that did not honor the courage of the survivors who came forward.” Booker noted that the FBI did not interview “multiple people” named by one of Kavanaugh’s accusers, Deborah Ramirez, as able to corroborate her claims that Kavanaugh had exposed himself to her at a party when they were both students at Yale.<doc-sep>Get ready to hear more from Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) over the next two years. Immediately after voting against Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation to the Supreme Court, Booker headed to Iowa where he used Kavanaugh's confirmation to stoke presidential speculation. What are the details? Speaking to 1,400 Democratic activists at the Iowa Democratic Party's annual fall gala, Booker revealed his presidential chops, offering progressives a message of hope in light of President Donald Trump's record of accomplishments. "It is not a time to give up, it’s a time to get up, to rise up, to speak up. It’s time for you not to wait for hope, but to be the hope," Booker said, according to the New York Times. "Hope is the act of conviction that despair can never have the last word. We’re not defined in this state by Republicans in power; we’re defined by how we respond to them. We’re not defined by a president who mocks a hero, Dr. [Christine] Blasey Ford. We’re not defined by a president who doesn’t believe women," he added, the Washington Post reported. During his 45 minute speech, Booker panned Trump while addressing American ideals and touching on iconic American leaders, such as Martin Luther King Jr. However, Booker did not specifically address the Kavanaugh confirmation fight. Instead, he framed "the defeat in the context of previous liberal setbacks and struggles," the Post reported. In all, Booker drew four standing ovations. Is Booker running for president? Booker has not yet announced his 2020 intentions. However, all indications point to him making a run at the White House beginning next year. When media asked if Saturday's event was meant to stoke presidential speculation, Booker deflected. "I do need to get in shape. So I will probably go jogging here in Iowa in the morning," he said. "In all seriousness, we’re here to focus on the elections that are coming up in 31 days." Booker also responded directly to Trump, saying: "I have nothing personal against the president." The trip was Booker's first to The Hawkeye State since campaigning for Hillary Clinton there during the 2016 presidential election.<doc-sep>(CNN) — Setting foot on Iowa soil for the first time as a possible presidential contender, Sen. Cory Booker urged Democrats discouraged by Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation to the US Supreme Court to “stay faithful” in defeat and rally to action in the upcoming midterm elections. The New Jersey Democrat was the headliner Saturday at the Iowa Democratic Party’s major annual fundraiser, where he hoped to make a positive first impression on more than 1,000 Iowa donors and activists who will hold considerable sway in the state’s caucuses as he weighs running for president in 2020. “I see the pain and the hurt, but I want to remind everyone here in this room tonight, full of fellowship, this room full of faith, that this is a time in our country when we need to stay faithful,” Booker said. Hours earlier, Booker was in Washington as the Senate voted to confirm Kavanaugh — the culmination of “one of the more painful experiences I’ve had as an elected leader,” Booker told reporters later in the evening. But Booker’s “Spartacus moment” opposing Kavanaugh during his confirmation hearings also won him acclaim within the Democratic Party, and national buzz, just in time for his Iowa debut. With his mother and other family members looking on from the audience, Booker delivered remarks that bore some signatures of a stump speech. Booker dove deep into his biography, including a nod to his own Iowa ties (his maternal grandmother hailed from Des Moines). Meanwhile, he issued sharp rebukes of President Donald Trump and his vision for America, and brought the crowd to its feet multiple times as he urged Democrats to fight back. “This is not a time to curl up. It is not a time to shut up. It is not a time to give up,” Booker said. “It’s a time to get up. It’s a time to speak up.” Booker’s message resonated with Juanita Williams, of Waterloo, Iowa, who said the crowd “needed to hear what he had to say tonight.” “Some of us feel like this is a rock-bottom moment, and we have to feel like there’s hope,” she said. Williams caucused for Vermont independent Sen. Bernie Sanders in 2016 and said she is “hoping he and Elizabeth Warren are a ticket” in 2020, referring to the Democratic senator from Massachusetts. But Booker was “one of the best” speakers she has listened to in years of attending this particular Democratic Party fundraiser, she said, and she “would certainly give him a good look” should he run for president. Booker has made no secret of his interest in a possible presidential bid in 2020. In a recent interview with New York Magazine, he said, “Of course the presidency will be something I consider. It would be irresponsible not to.” Trump now frequently cites Booker as a likely rival. During a rally Saturday evening in Topeka, Kansas, Trump called out Booker as one of his possible 2020 challengers, along with former Vice President Joe Biden and Warren. And Trump raised the New Jersey senator’s record as Newark mayor during a press conference Monday at the White House. “Take a look at Cory Booker,” Trump said. “He ran Newark, New Jersey, into the ground. He was a horrible mayor. And he made statements that when he was in high school or college, what he was doing — he actually made the statements. And now he’s talking about Judge Kavanaugh.” Speaking to reporters in Des Moines, Booker attempted to shrug off the President’s remarks. “I have nothing personal against this president, if he wants to attack me personally he can,” Booker said. “If he wants to attack my record, the reality is that the people of the state of New Jersey who elected me statewide are very proud of the work that I did, the change that we made in Newark, the transformation going on in our city.” “This is not about the President. This is not about me,” Booker added. “I will never let him pull me so low as to hate him. I’m going to continue to be a voice in this country for love, for bringing the nation together, not driving the nation apart.” Meanwhile, Booker sidestepped questions about his 2020 intentions, joking about his fitness when one reporter asked if he’s running. “I do need to get in shape, so I’ll probably go jogging here in Iowa in the morning,” Booker chuckled, before adding, “No, in all seriousness, we’re here to focus on the elections that are coming up in 31 days.” On Monday and Tuesday, Booker will hit the campaign trail in Iowa at a series of events for Democrats up and down the ballot, with plans to visit each of the state’s four congressional districts. Other possible top-tier Democratic contenders, including Biden and Warren, have to date steered clear of visiting the Hawkeye State.<doc-sep>
U.S. Sen. Cory Booker made his debut as a potential 2020 presidential contender, arriving in Iowa on Saturday -- just hours after casting his Senate vote against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. The New Jersey Democrat was well-received at an Iowa Democrats' gala in Des Moines, which featured around 1,400 activists in a state where Republicans control the governorship and both chambers of the Legislature, the Washington Post reported. His visit is the first by a Democrat who is considered a top-tier candidate for the 2020 presidential election. He planned to stay in the state through Thursday. A spokesman for Booker, Jeff Giertz, insisted the senator has not decided to run for president and is focused purely on the midterm elections. Giertz added that Booker has campaigned in 20 states with the intention of supporting Democratic candidates who will be a check and balance against the actions of President Trump. During his 45-minute speech, Booker compared the anguish many felt over Kavanaugh’s confirmation to when he watched a man die from a gunshot wound. “Hope is the act of conviction that despair can never have the last word,” he said. “We’re not defined in this state by Republicans in power; we’re defined by how we respond to them. We’re not defined by a president who mocks a hero, Dr. [Christine] Blasey Ford. We’re not defined by a president who doesn’t believe women.” Booker threw himself in the national spotlight during the Kavanaugh confirmation hearings when he made public some documents that the Senate Judiciary Committee intended to keep secret, risking expulsion from the Senate. He also drew criticism at the same time when he infamously said, “This is about the closest I’ll probably ever have in my life to an ‘I am Spartacus' moment." On Saturday, he drew four standing ovations, mostly as he quoted a speech given by Martin Luther King Jr. on the 1965 Voting Rights Act in Selma, Ala. “How long? Not long! Until we answer the president’s hate with our universal love,” Booker said. “How long until November? Not long!” Afterward, he declined to answer questions from reporters about Trump’s speech in Topeka, Kan., earlier in the day, where the president criticized Booker’s tenure as mayor of Newark. “I have nothing personal against the president,” said Booker. “If he wants to attack me personally, he can. If he wants to attack my record, the reality is that the people of New Jersey elected me statewide, and I’m proud of the work we did. I’ll never let him pull me so low." Booker has made inroads with influential Iowa Democrats, such as Des Moines lawyer Jerry Crawford, a veteran Democratic power broker who was a leading adviser to Hillary Clinton's 2008 and 2016 campaigns. He is the only top-tier presidential prospect to appear in the state ahead of the midterm elections, giving him time to introduce himself to voters before other candidates show up. Other big-name Democrats have stayed clear of Iowa so far, according to the Des Moines Register. “I’m aware of Sen. Booker,” said Nathan Thompson, a Democratic chairman in Winneshiek County. “He definitely seems like he has presidential ambitions. But I’m not real familiar with him, beyond being the former mayor of Newark.” On Sunday, Booker will headline a fundraiser for Deidre DeJear, the Democratic nominee for Iowa secretary of state He will also headline another Democratic fundraiser later this month in South Carolina. Working to build his profile, he recently appeared on the “Tonight Show” and was profiled in a New York magazine article last month. The Associated Press contributed to this story.