“This whole two-week effort had been a calculated and orchestrated political hit,” said Judge Kavanaugh on Thursday’s senate hearing. Echoing the words of President Trump, Kavanaugh attributes the accusations being brought against him to a plot by the Democrats to delay his confirmation by any means necessary.
At this time Kavanaugh has passed the procedural vote, meaning the hearings did not convince the majority of the Senate Judiciary Committee that further review was necessary. The Republican senators are looking to vote Kavanaugh into Justice Anthony Kennedy’s position as soon as possible.
On Sept. 16, Christine Blasey Ford became the first of three women to accuse Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct. She revealed, in what was originally an anonymous interview, how Kavanaugh had assaulted her at a high school party in the early 1980’s. “I thought he might inadvertently kill me,” Ford told Emma Brown of The Washington Post. She claims Kavanaugh pinned her to a bed, groped her while trying to pull off her one-piece bathing suit, and covered her mouth with one hand to keep her from screaming.
She recalls a friend of his, Mark Judge, in the room, drunkenly laughing and playing loud music during the assault. Judge has claimed that, though he was friends with Kavanaugh in high school he does not remember the specific party in question. He has not been called to testify before Congress, but the New York Times has reported that he would be willing to comply with the FBI if an investigation was called.
At first, the Washington Post published the story without Ford’s name being mentioned. Judge Kavanaugh was quick to deny the allegations, and when it seemed no follow up investigation was going to happen, Ford allowed the Washington Post to release her name.
On Thursday she told her side of the story again, this time in front of Congress and for the whole nation to hear. “I’m an independent person and I am no one’s pawn,” she stated.
Deborah Ramirez was second to come forward. Speaking to reporters from The New Yorker, she described how Kavanaugh exposed himself to her during their time at Yale in 1983-84. She claims he took out his genitals in front of her and another man told her to kiss it.
“This is a smear, plain and simple,” Kavanaugh told The New Yorker when asked about Ramirez’s claims. Republican Senator Lindsey Graham called the accusations “The most despicable thing I have seen in my time in politics.”
On Wednesday Sept. 26, Julie Swetnick became Kavanaugh’s third accuser. In a post released on her lawyer’s Twitter account, Swetnick claims to have been drugged and immobilized by Kavanaugh and others, then raped repeatedly by them as a group. She believes Quaaludes to have been the drug Kavanaugh or one of the others slipped into her drink, but she can’t be sure. Swetnick claims to have attended at least 10 house parties with Kavanaugh present in the early 80’s, and describes his behavior toward women as being “abusive and physically aggressive.” He would allegedly hold women against him without their consent and grope them. The lawyer who released this statement, Michael Avenatti, is also the lawyer representing adult film star Stormy Daniels.
Despite the mounting number of cases, Christine Blasey Ford was the only one of Kavanaugh’s accusers brought before the Senate to testify.
At the hearing, both parties were interested in Brett Kavanaugh’s drinking habits in his youth. When asked by Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar if Kavanaugh ever drank so much he couldn’t remember what he did the night before, he responded with, “You’re asking about blackout. I don’t know, have you?”
President Trump has called a vote for Kavanaugh a vote for “one of the best legal minds of our time,” according to Fox news.
There has been no FBI investigation into these accusations, despite Senators on both sides of the aisle calling for one. During the hearing on Thursday Sept. 27, Kavanaugh was asked whether or not he would want an FBI investigation into the claims. He said he would support whatever decision was made.
