Less than a week before the Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to vote on Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination, Democrats unveiled the real reason they can’t confirm him — a woman accuses Kavanaugh of attempted sexual assault when she was 15 and he was 17. There are several curious issues with this charge, and it’s important to examine thoroughly. Particularly in the light of a new era, where many men have been exposed this year as abusers of power and women. Is this a real crime wherein the accused should be reprimanded? Is this simply a last-ditch effort by Democrats to stop the confirmation of a man who might tip the Supreme Court a bit further to the Right?
Christine Blasey Ford’s recollections of the alleged incident, first discussed in couples therapy with her husband in 2012, are somewhat hazy but plausible based on the circumstances she described: Girls from an all-girls school were hanging out with boys from an all-boys school and there was copious amounts of alcohol and rough-housing. She says Kavanaugh and either one friend or several (the therapist’s notes say several, Ford’s current story says one) attempted to pin her down and covered her mouth, but she escaped before any assault could occur.
If this truly happened, it’s assault and it is wrong, and it should be taken seriously as a matter before local authorities. When Ford brought the accusation forth in counseling, it should have been dealt with then — not brought forth publicly now.
Ford’s husband also plays a key role in suggesting this is just as much a political attack as a personal one. The Washington Post says Ford’s husband “recalled that his wife used Kavanaugh’s last name and voiced concern that Kavanaugh — then a federal judge — might one day be nominated to the Supreme Court.” Kavanaugh was indeed a judge at the time, but Barack Obama was president and it was looking like Hillary Clinton was going to be his successor, not a Republican (especially not Trump). Regardless, neither of them told authorities of this alleged crime?
To compound matters, Senate Judiciary Committee ranking member Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., has been aware of this accusation since July, did not mention it while preparing for the confirmation hearings, and failed to mention it during those hearings even once, even though Kavanaugh was under oath. Instead, at the eleventh hour, she waved around a vague accusation of assault after sitting on it. Those who might say the timing doesn’t matter, only the accusation does, clearly haven’t seen how politics works: The judicial confirmation process is now an episode of “House of Cards” and Democrats are looking like Francis Underwood, manipulator in chief.
If there is to be justice and morality surrounding the actions of men and women whether they are 17 or 50, let it be now and let it be consistent — not at the moment it serves a person best politically or otherwise. If the women of the #MeToo movement want to be believed, it would help their cases tremendously if her accusations toward her assailant did not look like an eleventh hour hack-job of political grandstanding that would conveniently serve her political party of choice.
It’s likely the public or authorities will never produce enough evidence from 35 years ago to either exonerate or charge Kavanaugh. To believe Ford, the public, senators, and media must suspend belief in the very base origins of our judicial system, which includes, among other ideas: due process, innocence until guilt is proven, and more. This is not fair to him, nor frankly, is it fair to Ford for her allegations to be used as a political prop instead of investigated by law enforcement.
Unfortunately, this looks like a case where assault is unveiled as a political prop. Democrats are no more about helping women or the #MeToo movement than they are about eradicating a law that makes abortion seem like a walk in the park. This will hurt a movement which has valid origins and has made significant progress this year.
For Ford, even if the accusations are wholly true, this moment will always cast a shadow, remembered not as a moment of justice but poor timing, political motives, and opportunism. For Kavanaugh, if the accusations are wholly false, his confirmation will always bear a shadow of doubt, much like Justice Clarence Thomas’ confirmation did — even if he was always innocent. This is what happens when thieves who care about power and greed hijack a movement with pure, earnest origins, for the sole purpose of political grandstanding.
Nicole Russell (@russell_nm) is a contributor to the Washington Examiner’s Beltway Confidential blog. She is a journalist who previously worked in Republican politics in Minnesota.
