The confirmation of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh appears to be in jeopardy after a woman presented the US Senate with information that he attempted to sexually assault her.
Politics
In July, Christine Blasey Ford wrote a confidential letter to Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California detailing an unwanted sexual escapade Kavanaugh forced her into some 30 years ago. Sen. Feinstein has since turned the letter over to the FBI.
“Brett Kavanaugh physically and sexually assaulted me during high school in the early 1980’s,” the letter began, while also naming an accomplice. “The assault occurred in a suburban Maryland area home at a gathering that included me and 4 others.
“Kavanaugh physically pushed me into a bedroom as I was headed for a bathroom up a short stairwell from the living room. They locked the door and played loud music precluding any successful attempt to yell for help. [He] was on top of me while laughing… They both laughed as [they] tried to disrobe me in their highly inebriated state. With Kavanaugh’s hand over my mouth, I feared he may inadvertently kill me.
“As a constituent, I expect that you will maintain this as confidential until we have further opportunity to speak,” Ms. Ford added.
“I categorically and unequivocally deny this allegation. I did not do this back in high school or at any time.” – Brett Kavanaugh
The letter was so alarming that Republican Sens. Jeff Flake and Bob Corker joined all Democratic Senate Judiciary Committee members in calling for an immediate halt to the Supreme Court confirmation hearing until the woman accusing sexual assault is fully heard.
“I’ve made it clear that I’m not comfortable moving ahead with the vote on Thursday if we have not heard her side of the story or explored this further,” Sen. Corker said.
“We need to hear from her. And I don’t think I’m alone in this,” added Sen. Flake.
On Monday, Ms. Ford took her case to the public and announced she is ready, willing, and able to appear directly before the Senate committee to tell her story. Now, backed into a corner, Republicans who had hoped to push the Kavanaugh confirmation through swiftly are reluctantly realizing that unless they’re willing to pay a political price, they need a do-over hearing that will allow Ms. Ford’s story to be heard.
With Republicans holding a mere 11-10 majority on the panel, the Kavanaugh vote will almost certainly not occur on Thursday as expected. Or, the judge may be asked by The White House to withdraw his nomination so as to avoid an embarrassing hearing with incriminating testimony from Ms. Ford.
At the very least the Kavanaugh nomination is on hold. However, the more likely scenario is to consider the obvious: the Kavanaugh nomination is pretty much dead on arrival!
I don’t see how he can survive this and keep the nomination. Dems played this just right. They could have put out this information in July when it came up but they waited. Now if his nomination does not go through there is no time for Trump to start over before the mid terms.