A prominent conservative lawyer faced intense blowback on Thursday after he presented a theory that an allegation of sexual assault lodged against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh may be a case of mistaken identity.
Ed Whelan, the president of the Ethics and Public Policy Center, detailed his theory in a series of tweets and ultimately revealed the name and photo of a classmate of Kavanaugh’s at Georgetown Preparatory School whose childhood home fit the description of the assault from Kavanaugh accuser Christine Blasey Ford.
A bevy of journalists ripped Whelan for peddling unsubstantiated claims.
Whelan, who has been a leading outside supporter of Kavanaugh’s nomination, raised eyebrows after he confidently tweeted Tuesday, “By one week from today, I expect that Judge Kavanaugh will have been clearly vindicated on this matter. Specifically, I expect that compelling evidence will show his categorical denial to be truthful. There will be no cloud over him.”
He also said Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., would “soon be apologizing to Judge Kavanaugh.”
The tweets triggered a wave of speculation in Washington about what secret bombshell he may be talking about.
On Thursday night, with a captive audience, Whelan methodically tweeted about a house that fits the location and layout of the house Ford described in her account. He then revealed it to be the childhood home of a classmate who he said looked similar to Kavanaugh, raising the possibility of mistaken identity. Though he later cautioned that he did not intend to “state, imply or insinuate” that the person he named was the assailant, that did little to tamp down the criticism.
CNN’s Jake Tapper said the series of 25 tweets from a “DC conservative, trying to promote an alternate theory” was “stunningly irresponsible.”
Reacting to Tapper, New York Times White House correspondent Maggie Haberman said she was deleting tweets that referenced the matter. “This is something Kavanaugh allies had privately said could be the case for days but doing it this way, as an apparent reaction to Ford likely testifying, suggests a level of panic,” she said.
Jonathan Swan of Axios also deleted his tweet about Whelan’s thread, expressing regret for “amplifying this Sherlock Holmes via Zillow character assassination.”
Conservative commentator Ben Shapiro said if Whelan, “doesn’t have anything but Zillow links and Google maps and it turns out he went after a person who isn’t responsible for an alleged sexual assault 36 years ago, he’s going to end up in court for defaming a private figure.”
Ford has said that during a party at a house in Montgomery County attended by four others, Kavanaugh pushed her into an upstairs bedroom and pinned her to the bed. She then said he groped her, tried to remove her clothes, and covered her mouth to prevent her from screaming, before she was able to escape.
Kavanaugh has categorically denied the allegation, calling it “completely false.”
