WASHINGTON (AP) - Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh acknowledged Thursday he "might have been too emotional" when testifying about sexual misconduct allegations as he made a bid to win over wavering GOP senators on the eve of a crucial vote to advance his confirmation.
The 53-year-old judge said in an op-ed that he knows his "tone was sharp, and I said a few things I should not have said" during testimony last week to the Judiciary Committee. He forcefully denied the allegations.
"Going forward, you can count on me to be the same kind of judge and person I have been for my entire 28-year legal career: hardworking, even-keeled, open-minded, independent and dedicated to the Constitution and the public good," he wrote in the Wall Street Journal.
Kavanaugh's column appeared aimed at winning over the three GOP senators who remain undecided. He got an additional boost late Thursday from President Donald Trump, who praised his nominee's "incredible intellect" and scoffed at detractors during a campaign rally in Minnesota.
Trump said the protesters and "their rage-fueled resistance is starting to backfire at a level nobody has ever seen before." He was referring to polling that shows some improvement for Republicans heading into the midterm election.
Earlier Thursday, a pair of undeclared Republican senators accepted a confidential new FBI report into sex-abuse allegations against Kavanaugh as "thorough," bolstering GOP hopes for confirmation as the Senate plunged toward showdown votes.
One of the senators hinted he was open to supporting Kavanaugh as party leaders set a pivotal preliminary vote for 10:30 a.m. today. If that succeeds, a final roll call was expected Saturday as the long, emotional battle over the conservative jurist drew toward its climax.
Six days after Trump reluctantly ordered the FBI to scrutinize the accusations- which allegedly occurred in the 1980s and Kavanaugh has denied - leading GOP lawmakers briefed on the agency's confidential document all reached the same conclusion: There was no verification of the women's past claims and nothing new.
Democrats complained the investigation was shoddy, omitting interviews with numerous potential witnesses, and accused the White House of limiting the FBI's leeway. Those not interviewed in the reopened background investigation included Kavanaugh himself and Christine Blasey Ford, who ignited the furor by alleging he'd molested her in a locked room at a 1982 high school gathering.
A week after a televised Senate Judiciary Committee hearing at which Kavanaugh and Ford transfixed the nation, the Capitol campus remained a stew of tension as the election-season cliff-hanger neared its conclusion. A hefty police presence added an air of anxiety, as did thousands of noisy anti-Kavanaugh demonstrators who gathered outside the Supreme Court and in Senate office buildings. U.S. Capitol Police said 302 were arrested - among them comedian Amy Schumer, a distant relative of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.
"What we know for sure is the FBI report did not corroborate any of the allegations against Judge Kavanaugh," Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., told reporters about the document, which was sent to Congress overnight. On the Senate floor, he witheringly called the accusations "uncorroborated mud."
Earlier, Sen. Jeff Flake, of Arizona, one of the publicly undecided Republicans, told reporters "we've seen no additional corroborating information" about the claims against the 53-year-old conservative jurist and said the investigation had been comprehensive.
A second undeclared Republican, Susan Collins, of Maine, also expressed satisfaction with the probe, calling it "a very thorough investigation." She paid two visits to the off-limits room where the document was being displayed to lawmakers. She told reporters she would not announce her position until today.
Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski, said she was "still reviewing" her decision.
While GOP leaders were not saying they'd nailed down the support needed, backing from two of those three would ensure Kavanaugh's confirmation because every other Republican was poised to back him. Republicans have a narrow 51-49 Senate majority, and Vice President Mike Pence will be available to cast a tie-breaking vote.
The trio of GOP moderates, leery of three women's claims of alcohol-fueled sexual misconduct by Kavanaugh, had refused to let his nomination proceed last week until Trump ordered the FBI probe. The three were briefed together on the investigation in the secure room senators were using to view the report. They skirted reporters for much of the day, sometimes shielded by Capitol Police.