--- title: Kavanaugh Says He Is an "Independent, Impartial Judge" description: "I was very emotional last Thursday, more so than I have ever been." canonical: https://time.com/5416241/brett-kavanaugh-wsj-op-ed/ author: Gina Martinez article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-10-05T00:26:26.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T21:38:57.280Z article:section: Politics og:title: Brett Kavanaugh Says He ‘Said a Few Things I Should Not Have Said’ og:description: "I was very emotional last Thursday, more so than I have ever been," Kavanaugh wrote in his op-ed og:url: https://time.com/5416241/brett-kavanaugh-wsj-op-ed/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt34702d22c682b29a/69893bcf0a4a2276c69d3ddc/gettyimages-1042420504.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5568 og:image:height: 3132 og:image:alt: Dr. Christine Blasey Ford Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Brett Kavanaugh Says He ‘Said a Few Things I Should Not Have Said’ twitter:description: "I was very emotional last Thursday, more so than I have ever been," Kavanaugh wrote in his op-ed twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt34702d22c682b29a/69893bcf0a4a2276c69d3ddc/gettyimages-1042420504.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Brett Kavanaugh Says He ‘Said a Few Things I Should Not Have Said’ > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Gina Martinez](https://time.com/author/gina-martinez/) ## Gina Martinez Oct 5, 2018 12:26 AM UTC  Judge Brett Kavanaugh testifies during the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on his nomination be an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, focusing on allegations of sexual assault, in Washington, D.C. on Sept. 27, 2018. Judge Brett Kavanaugh testifies during the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on his nomination be an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, focusing on allegations of sexual assault, in Washington, D.C. on Sept. 27, 2018. Tom Williams—CQ-Roll Call,Inc./Getty Images by [Gina Martinez](https://time.com/author/gina-martinez/) ## Gina Martinez Oct 5, 2018 12:26 AM UTC Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh called himself an “independent, impartial judge” in a [_Wall Street Journal_](https://www.wsj.com/articles/i-am-an-independent-impartial-judge-1538695822) op-ed, defending his controversial testimony last week in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Dr. Christine Blasey Ford accused Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her in the 1980’s during a high school house gathering. During her testimony in front of the committee, she said Kavanaugh covered her mouth to conceal her screams as he grinded on her and attempted to remove her one-piece bathing suit. In his opening statement in front of the committee, Kavanaugh forcefully denied Ford’s accusations as he both[ broke down in tears](http://time.com/5409246/christine-ford-brett-kavanaugh-politics/) and yelled, calling the allegations against him a “calculated and orchestrated political hit.” In the new op-ed, Kavanaugh appears to express regret for his emotional performance. “I was very emotional last Thursday, more so than I have ever been,” Kavanaugh wrote in the _Journal_. “I might have been too emotional at times. I know that my tone was sharp, and I said a few things I should not have said. I hope everyone can understand that I was there as a son, husband and dad. I testified with five people foremost in my mind: my mom, my dad, my wife, and most of all my daughters.” Despite his performance, Kavanaugh said he can be counted on to be impartial as a judge. “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,” Kavanaugh wrote. Following a [weeklong FBI investigation](http://time.com/5414905/mitch-mcconnell-test-vote-brett-kavanaught/), the committee is set to vote on confirming Kavanaugh this weekend. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5416241/brett-kavanaugh-wsj-op-ed/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5416241/brett-kavanaugh-wsj-op-ed/"},"headline":"Brett Kavanaugh Says He ‘Said a Few Things I Should Not Have Said’","datePublished":"2018-10-05T00:26:26.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T21:38:57.280Z","description":"\"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\"","url":"https://time.com/5416241/brett-kavanaugh-wsj-op-ed/","keywords":["Supreme Court","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt34702d22c682b29a/69893bcf0a4a2276c69d3ddc/gettyimages-1042420504.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Gina Martinez","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/gina-martinez/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt34702d22c682b29a/69893bcf0a4a2276c69d3ddc/gettyimages-1042420504.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Dr. Christine Blasey Ford Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing","caption":"Dr. Christine Blasey Ford Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing","creditText":"Tom Williams—CQ-Roll Call,Inc./Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/supreme-court/","name":"Supreme Court"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5416241/brett-kavanaugh-wsj-op-ed/","name":"Brett Kavanaugh Says He ‘Said a Few Things I Should Not Have Said’"}}]}] ```