“Guess who’s perpetuating all of these kinds of actions?” Sen. Mazie Hirono explained, boiling down the Senate Democrats’ position on Brett Kavanaugh. “It’s the men in this country. I just want to say to the men in this country, just shut up. And step up. Do the right thing for a change.”
Demanding an entire gender “just shut up” because it shares in a collective guilt borne of the actions perpetrated by a people who happen to share their biological features is a pretty ugly notion for anyone to be voicing, much less someone charged with defending the Constitution. Then again, arguing that the “right thing” for all men to do is surrender their right to due process or a defense, isn’t much better. But welcome to 2018.
The truth is, Hirono gave away much of the game when she followed up her authoritarian outburst by wish-casting a scenario in which this Supreme Court seat stays vacant for two years—or, more precisely, until after the 2020 election, when presumably a Democrat can fill it. Which is, of course, the point of everything that’s occurred in this premeditated roll-out to sink Kavanaugh’s confirmation. Democrats want to push the vote past the midterms.
First, Democrats sat on the letter from Dr. Christine Blasey Ford until after the hearings to ensure maximum media impact, a circumvention of process and Senate norms, and a delay of any vote. So Republicans called the Democrats’ bluff, and conceded to hearings—either private or public—to allow King to air her claims. Earlier this week on NBC, Debra Katz, Ford’s lawyer, was asked, is her client “willing to testify before the Judiciary Committee publicly and tell this story?” Katz answered: “She is. She’s willing to do whatever it takes to get her story forth, yes.”
As it turns out, “whatever it takes” has a number of caveats. Ford, in a letter to Senate Judiciary chairman, now demands an investigation take place before any hearing commences. This reflects the Democrats tactic of slowing everything down because, as they claim, the Kavanaugh hearings has been rushed—a charge that doesn’t mesh with the facts.
In reality, Democrats know well that the FBI won’t investigate an alleged incident that occurred at a house party in which the accuser can’t even recall the time or place. This fact alone doesn’t mean Ford is lying, of course, but it does mean that Democrats are using it as a delaying tactic.
The liberal push-back on this contention has been to argue that FBI has the purview to include these charges in a broader background check, and that no one is asking for a “criminal probe.” This is plainly untrue. For one thing, the Ford letter specifically asks for “a full investigation by law enforcement officials” into “the incident”—not a background check. Even then, Democrats know that the FBI doesn’t “investigate” local sexual assault cases (there is no alleged federal crime here, as there was in the Anita Hill investigation Democrats keep bringing up.)
They know well that the FBI only offers the Senate guidance in confirmation hearings, not investigations into accusations from 30 years ago. They know that the FBI has already seen the accusation, and handed it over to the Senate. They know that Kavanaugh already holds a lifetime position and has undergone six background checks by the FBI that turned up nothing.
But setting all that aside, why would a victim of an attempted rape need an investigation to tell a Senate committee what happened to her, anyway? Will it change her testimony? No one should expect Ford to remember every detail, but her testimony to the judicial committee is part of the investigation. Not only would it be an opportunity for her to level the accusation, but it would be way for others to gauge the veracity of her claims through direct questioning. The second part of this (minimal) due process is what seems to offend Democrats.
Hirono, perhaps jumping the gun to the next phase of delay, is already arguing that the very act of asking Ford to appear is “appalling” that Republicans are “re-victimizing” Ford by conceding to allow her to testify, at all. Similarly, Ford’s lawyer, in an about-face, told NPR her client shouldn’t be “subjected” to an “interrogation by senators who appear to have made up their mind.”
Has any Republican claimed to have made up their minds about Ford’s accusations? Perhaps they did and I missed it. What is inarguable, though, is that a number of Democrats on the judiciary committee—including Hirono, Kamala Harris, and Richard Blumenthal—have gone on the record and stated that they believe Ford’s allegation, which is to say, they believe Kavanaugh attempted to rape a 15-year-old girl.
A simple accusation is, it appears, all that Democrats need to presume someone guilty. Since Kavanaugh has already been smeared as a sexual predator by Democrats, what’s the purpose of an investigation—other than a transparent attempt at delaying the vote? Now, perhaps circumstances change if Ford shows up on Monday and offers new evidence or some other compelling information. If she doesn’t, though, there is no reason for Republicans to delay a vote.
