Senator Feinstein has given unredacted copies of the Christine Ford letter accusing Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault to the Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee, but she has refused to provide a copy for the committee chairman or any of the other Republicans on the committee.
So as things currently stand, not only will the accuser not appear before the whole committee, neither will her accusation.
The committee should stop wasting time and go ahead with its vote on the Kavanaugh nomination.
UPDATE—Chairman Grassley has sent a letter to the Democrats on the Judiciary Committee outlining how and why he intends to proceed. He notes that he his following the same timeline established by Joe Biden when the committee dealt with Anita Hill’s allegations against Clarence Thomas.
We are in the same position the Committee was in after Professor Hill’s allegations were leaked. After that leak, we did not ask the FBI to conduct an investigation. Instead, we reopened the hearing and assessed the testimony that was given on our own. As in 1991, it is now up the Senate to gather and assess the relevant evidence.
Also, Grassley expresses his concern that the Democrats’ leaking of Dr. Ford’s letter will have on others coming forward with information.
I’m also concerned what the recent events mean for whistleblowers, especially victims of sexual assault. Dr. Ford expressed the desire that her allegations remain non-public. I can’t emphasize how important it is to respect whistleblowers’ and victims’ desire for confidentiality. But notwithstanding her wishes for confidentiality, her allegations became public. I fear that the leaks of confidential information will discourage whistleblowers and victims from coming forward in the future.
That’s only a bug if the purpose of the process is to discover the truth. It may be a feature if the purpose of the process is control of the narrative and maintenance of power.
The concern for the confidentiality of whistleblowers is admirable on Sen Grassley’s part, but the error was Senator Feinstein’s, compounded by the media (which is NOT AT ALL BIASED OR OUT TO TORPEDO KAVANAUGH’S NOMINATION BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY) as well as by Dr. Ford herself.
I would be easy to ascribe bad faith motives to Dr. Ford’s choice to come forward with her allegations, but let me presume for the moment that she is an honest actor here.
The media didn’t find out her identity until it was leaked by the Democrats after it became clear that anonymous allegations would not be sufficient to derail the confirmation process. The media then picked up the Democrats’ ball and essentially forced Dr. Ford to come forward with allegations that are sorely lacking in detail, supported by a team of lawyers and publicists with clear and historically radical political agendas and associations. It’s not a good look.
But the thing that concerns me is not the effect this will have on whistleblowers going forward.
This “BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY” tactic by the Democrats will only backfire on them. It’s as if they have learned nothing from Senator Reid and his elimination of the filibuster.
(HINT: Do you want more Trump? THIS IS EXACTLY HOW YOU GET MORE TRUMP.)
But even that is not the biggest concern of mine…
People wonder why we have no admirable people any more in public service…this is why we have no admirable people in public service.
If I were admirable (shut up!) and desirous of entering public service for truly noble civic reasons, what is there about the current political environment in America that suggests it would be a rewarding or positive experience?
This was the case before Kavanaugh was nominated, and it has become worse by several orders of magnitude in just the last week. Our politics attract the dragons when we need the knights who can slay them.
The whole point of this political charade is to get an FBI investigation started, which would kick the can of the nominating procedure until after the mid-terms. That Grassle’s said he’s not playing that game, then forces the Dems to have Ford put up or shut up next Monday. #NothingBurger
Let’s not forget that the accusation is based on suppressed memories that only surfaced with a therapist’s assistance with no names per the notes of those sessions. I’ve heard these would not be admissible in court and wonder if how much weight we should give them in public.
The one thing we know for sure is the handling of her letter has been extremely political by Feinstein and other Democrats and we should be very cautious of any statements by those critters.
It all comes across as a political play to push the confirmation vote past the Nov elections to save some vulnerable Democrat Senators running for reelection. But what would I know…