The prosecutor who was brought in to ask questions on behalf of the GOP senators on the Senate Judiciary Committee today shouldn’t have become the story, but in some ways she has. Rachel Mitchell, an Arizona prosecutor, has credentials. Vox lays out her work history saying:
Rachel Mitchell is a career prosecutor and registered Republican from Arizona who, according to Grassley’s statement, has been a prosecutor since 1993. She comes from the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office in Phoenix — the same Maricopa County that’s home to former Sheriff Joe Arpaio — and is on leave from her post as deputy county attorney and division chief of the special victims division, which oversees bureaus that handle sex crimes and family violence. Before that, she spent 12 years running the division’s bureau responsible for prosecuting sex crimes such as child molestation, adult sexual assault, and child prostitution.
Her credentials though didn’t seem to come into play during the hearing Thursday. She seemed to be concerned about discrediting Ford. Her questions often seemed leading in nature, but in the end, they led nowhere.
When Senator Kamala Harris said told Christine Blasey Ford “you know you are not on trial.” Someone may have wanted to tell Mitchell that. Mitchell asked nothing about the attack itself. It was clear her job was to someway, somehow discredit Ford. A job she failed to do.
It is starting to appear as if Rachel Mitchell is trying to cross-examine Professor Ford, but none of this is very effective thus far. If she is trying to undercut Ford, it isn’t working.
— Renato Mariotti (@renato_mariotti) September 27, 2018
Rachel Mitchell seems focused on only 2 things:
1. Trying to find holes in Blasey Ford's story
2. Trying to find any sort of instance where Democrats urged Blasey Ford to come forward or coached her
She's accomplished neither so far.
— Chris Cillizza (@ChrisCillizza) September 27, 2018
There were a few particularly odd lines of questioning Mitchell pursued. One involved whether Ford has a fear of flying.
The GOP interrogator tries to discredit Ford because she says she has a fear of flying, but managed to fly from California to DC for the hearing. #BeyondParody pic.twitter.com/MyVveP7m4L
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) September 27, 2018
In an embarrassing line of questioning, the prosecutor hired by Republicans tries to show that Ford is a liar by saying she is afraid of flying but has, on occasion, flown on an airplane
— Judd Legum (@JuddLegum) September 27, 2018
Donald Trump Jr. must have seen a different exhange here though because he seized this moment.
I’m no psychology professor but it does seem weird to me that someone could have a selective fear of flying.
Can’t do it to testify but for vacation, well it’s not a problem at all.
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) September 27, 2018
Another odd moment was when Mitchell asked Ford where she took her polygraph test. We don’t think Mitchell was expecting this answer.
Dr. Christine Blasey Ford left her grandmother's funeral to take a polygraph test pic.twitter.com/1H2Y4gNokq
— VICE News (@VICENews) September 27, 2018
Many were also questioning why Mitchell pressed Ford on her anxiety.
https://twitter.com/pamelacolloff/status/1045346686686695424
As it turns out though this may not all be totally surprising. Even though she was a sex crime prosecutor Slate points out there are some questionable decisions in Mitchell’s past:
“Mitchell faced some criticism in 2003 for questioning the credibility of a quadriplegic woman who accused her husband of physically abusing her after initially denying the allegations. Mitchell further chose not to prosecute the case. She also weathered backlash in 2011 for making a plea deal with a Jehovah’s Witness elder who spent only six months in jail on charges of sexually abusing a teenage boy.”
Every GOP campaign strategist and Hill staffer wishes they had the button to open the trap door under Rachel Mitchell’s chair. What a total and complete Political disaster for Republicans.
— Steve Schmidt (@SteveSchmidtSES) September 27, 2018