Republicans should not allow the hit on Kavanaugh to succeed
BY BUCK SEXTON, OPINION CONTRIBUTOR
THE HILL
Senate Democrats have been desperate to defeat Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court. The Democrat-aligned media ran a number of laughable hit pieces on him, leading to such revelations as his purchase of baseball tickets on a credit card and some beer-drinking in his youth. Shrieking, hysterical left-wing protesters by the dozen were carted out of the hearings, yelling all sorts of insanity and obscenity. The whole effort was childish, pathetic and transparently political.
Americans of good faith saw that Kavanaugh was eminently qualified for the Supreme Court, with a spotless personal reputation and a gold-standard resume. It became obvious that the left’s outrage stemmed from the prospect of losing the Supreme Court as a tool of progressive policymaking.
And then, after exhausting all other options to smear an incredibly capable jurist, Sen. Feinstein (D-Calif.) ignited a firestorm at the eleventh hour. She released information about a murky allegation of sexual impropriety from Kavanaugh’s youth, over 35 years ago.
After it became clear that the anonymous charge was insufficient to derail Kavanaugh’s confirmation, the accuser decided to come forward. Christine Blasey Ford gave an interview to The Washington Post in which she details the alleged incident. She claims that when she was 15 years old at a party with a handful of other people, Kavanaugh — then 17 — with another drunk male friend tried to hold her down, cover her mouth and take off her bathing suit.
The story itself reads as plausible, in that there is nothing obviously contradictory or false about it. It is certainly conceivable that Kavanaugh, while highly inebriated, tried to assault a young woman at a social gathering decades ago.
Some details are questionable, however. Ford claims to have a clear memory of the incident, but not the house where it occurred or how she got there. Ford stated she was worried Kavanaugh “might inadvertently kill” her during the alleged attack, which suggests a high level of violent intent, though she had no injuries of any kind. It is also worth noting that Ford claims she locked herself in a bathroom and then fled the house where this alleged assault occurred, apparently without advising any adults about it afterward.
We should also be quite clear about what Ford is alleging: an attempted gang rape. This is an incredibly serious crime. Had either Kavanaugh or his friend ever been charged with this, their lives would have been effectively over. If guilty, both could have spent decades in prison. There is nothing — absolutely nothing — as of yet shown in the backgrounds of either men that would corroborate a character or mindset that could ever engage in such behavior. That isn’t dispositive, but it is relevant. This entire ordeal comes down to credibility and motive.
Adjudicating the events of the night in question, over three decades after it occurred, is a nearly impossible task. This will never go to trial as it is past any statute of limitations and there is no actual evidence to speak of anyway. The reason that a statute of limitations exists for most crimes is that it is often hard to prove innocence long after an event has taken place. That is certainly applicable to this situation. For Judge Kavanaugh, the only defense he has available is his word and good name.
All of this reeks of politics. The accuser in this case, Ford, has made an overtly political decision to come forward. The reason she has made her allegation public is, by her own admission, Kavanaugh was days away from becoming a Supreme Court justice. It is also relevant that she is a Democrat, a self-described “activist,” and professor of psychology at an overwhelmingly liberal institution. For coming forward, she will, undoubtedly, be hailed as a hero to the left for decades to come. And it seems strange that someone who claims she wanted to remain anonymous took a preemptive polygraph test.
This is part of a larger trend. As many Democrat activists protesting Kavanaugh have stated their belief that his confirmation will result in the deaths of countless women, there is obviously enormous pressure to prevent his ascension to the bench. This has clearly affected the decisions of Senate Democrats, who even before these allegations engaged in a shameless and self-parodying smear campaign of Kavanaugh during the hearings.
That Feinstein knew of Ford’s letter, and waited until the last minute to make its existence known, was a blatantly partisan calculation. Feinstein either didn’t find it credible or wanted to hold it for maximum impact, or both. Her political conniving has been a disgrace to this issue, and to the Senate itself.
Now is the time to hold fast, Republicans. If a decades-old allegation with no independent corroboration or evidence can be used to nuke the career of a man like Judge Kavanaugh, the same tactic can be used against anyone — and it will be.
If Kavanaugh’s confirmation is derailed, the precedent will be set. Whenever the stakes are high enough, the most sinister, underhanded forces of the left will manage to surface an unsubstantiated character-destroying allegation at the most opportune moment.
We can’t let that become the standard for those who wish to serve public life. Kavanaugh is a good man. He belongs on the Supreme Court. If Senate Republicans cave on this, it will be to their lasting dishonor.
Buck Sexton is the co-host of "Rising," Hill.TV's morning news show.
