It seemed that their strategy to ram this
nominee into the Supreme Court would work. But in a time when news cycles spin
at the speed of light, this story was no different. Within days Dr. Ford had
gone public. The majority of Republicans stood by their man, but a couple realized
the danger they were in come re-election time and backed down enough to call
for a delay to the vote. Given the GOP's
slim majority in the Senate, it was enough. Both parties were invited to
testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee, but only under very restrictive
terms. No FBI or Senate investigation into the allegations, and no corroborating
or character witnesses.
Mr. Kavanaugh was fine with that, but Dr.
Ford wasn't. She said she would testify if the FBI reopened their investigation
into Kavanaugh's background, specifically to investigate her allegations. They
could, but not without White House approval, which was withheld, under the
pretext "the FBI doesn't do that". Which isn't true. They do. It's
their job. And
they have done it, in exactly the same circumstances, when Anita Hill
accused Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas of sexual harassment.
Fully aware of the falsity of the
president's assertion, nonetheless Republicans vetoed the investigation, saying
they were willing to give Dr. Ford a chance to speak, but that if she didn't
want it, the Committee vote would go ahead. As if she were some kind of sulky
schoolgirl who had been offered cake but didn't want it.
Her loss, then. In a feeble attempt to
justify their lack of interest in getting to the truth, and to placate those of
their constituents who find Dr. Ford's allegations credible, mutterings were
made about "mistaken identity". It was so long ago, Dr. Ford could
easily have forgotten who really abused her. That theory was debunked instantly
by a number of credible sources. NYT columnist Charles
Blow addressed the issue when he spoke frankly on CNN about his experience
with abuse.
Please take five minutes to watch this important and profound statement from @nytimes columnist @CharlesMBlow, who discusses his own experience with child sexual abuse and helps us understand what Professor Ford is going through and how to support her. pic.twitter.com/JeDjbG3Phs— Renato Mariotti (@renato_mariotti) September 20, 2018
Enter Ed Whelan, friend and slavish fan of Judge
Kavanaugh, and, ironically given his behavior in the last few days, president
of the conservative think tank the Ethics and Public Policy Center. Assisted by a prominent Virginia PR firm, CRC
Public Relations, Whelan produced "evidence" that Dr. Ford's abuser
was a high school classmate of Kavanaugh's, namely a photograph showing how
allegedly similar the two friends looked (they don't), and floor plans of the
house Whelan identified as the location of the abuse. He included the name of the
new suspect.
Dr. Ford rejected the claim immediately and
it was exposed as pure fabrication. Tail between his legs, Wheelan retracted
his allegations, and apologized
obsequiously. Too little too late for the innocent man.
Republicans, originally excited by
Whelan's story, now distanced themselves from him as fast as they could. Then news
broke that Garrett Ventry, who was on a leave of absence from CRC to work
help lead the Senate Judiciary's response to Dr. Ford's allegations against Mr.
Kavanaugh, was himself fired from a previous job in part because of an
allegation of sexual misconduct.
Take a moment to think about that. Both Whelan and Ventry have been hustled off stage.