Yes, I can support sexual assault victims and believe Brett Kavanaugh should be confirmed
A week ago today, I wrote about the trap that liberals are trying catch conservatives in: Either you believe the unsubstantiated sexual assault allegations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh lock, stock and barrel without questions, or you are anti-feminist. You are pro-sexual assault. You are heartless, unkind, unsympathetic, the character assaults against you are relentless. In recent days, those cries have gotten stronger and louder. Which is why I want to go on record saying those who want to stand up for truth, justice and fairness need to stand by Brett Kavanaugh and not be bullied or shamed themselves. There has been zero, let me repeat that: ZERO, substantiating evidence to back-up any claim of misconduct, whereas there are mountains of reasons to have questions and doubts. Including, but not limited to, statements from everybody involved in Kavanaugh’s life during that period of time and since. There are questions in the consistency, or more importantly the inconsistency, of the statements that the accuser has made both then and now. One must also question the way that this has all played out as political theatre orchestrated by the Democrats in the Senate. These are the same people who have spent millions of dollars and weeks trying to keep the Kavanaugh nomination off the floor for a vote because of their opposition to his experience and policy positions as a Constitutionalist. When they couldn’t de-rail his nomination based on the merits of his record, they are now counting on these allegations to be his ultimate undoing. I stand with Kavanaugh. That doesn’t mean I don’t support victims of sexual assault because I have and I always will. I stand for a country in which people are not bullied and intimidated for their political beliefs. I stand and ask for fairness and justice when discussing important life changing issues such as accusations such as these. I stand for a world in which honorable men and women don’t need to worry about having their life’s work tarnished by those who disagree with them. It is an important time in our country with a lot of critical decisions facing the court. The senate needs to confirm Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, and to do it in a timely manner. I hope people get wise to weaponization of sexual assault, which has been normalized as of late, and recognize that there are some who would use a false accusation as a tool in their arsenal meant to destroy the reputation and opportunities of good people they simply disagree with. I hope as a Alabama resident our U.S. Senator Doug Jones confirms Kavanaugh and doesn’t allow himself to be bullied into opposition.
New accusation rocks Brett Kavanaugh nomination; Donald Trump stands firm
President Donald Trump staunchly defended his embattled Supreme Court nominee against a new allegation of sexual misconduct Monday, calling the accusations against Judge Brett Kavanaugh “totally political.” The president spoke a day after a second allegation emerged against Kavanaugh, a development that further imperiled his nomination to the Supreme Court, forced the White House and Senate Republicans onto the defensive and fueled calls from Democrats to postpone further action on his confirmation. Trump, at the United Nations for his second General Assembly meeting, called the allegations unfair and unsubstantiated, made by accusers who come “out of the woodwork.” He also questioned the political motivations of the attorneys representing the women, saying “you should look into the lawyers doing the representation.” On Kavanaugh, Trump stressed: “I am with him all the way.” The new accusation landed late Sunday in a report from The New Yorker, just a few hours after negotiators had reached an agreement to hold an extraordinary public hearing Thursday for Kavanaugh and Christine Blasey Ford, who accuses him of sexually assaulting her at a party when they were teenagers. Kavanaugh denies the accusation. Presidential counselor Kellyanne Conway told CBS on Monday that the accusations against Kavanaugh sound like “a vast left-wing conspiracy,” using rhetoric that echoed Hillary Clinton‘s 1998 description of allegations that her husband, President Bill Clinton, had had affairs. Trump is suggesting the timing of the New Yorker article is further evidence of what he has been saying privately for days: that the Democrats and media are conspiring to undermine his pick. The second claim against Kavanaugh dates to the 1983-84 academic year, which was his first at Yale University. Deborah Ramirez described the incident after being contacted by The New Yorker magazine. She recalled that Kavanaugh exposed himself at a drunken dormitory party, thrust his penis in her face, and caused her to touch it without her consent as she pushed him away. In a statement provided by the White House, Kavanaugh said the event “did not happen” and that the allegation was “a smear, plain and simple.” However, Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, the ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, called for the “immediate postponement” of any further action on Kavanaugh’s nomination. Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee said they would investigate Ramirez’s accusation. Taylor Foy, a Judiciary spokesman, complained that Democrats “actively withheld information” from the Republicans. He said they appear “more interested in a political takedown” than a bipartisan process. The New Yorker said it contacted Ramirez after learning of a possible incident with Kavanaugh. It said that the allegation came to the attention of Democratic senators through a civil rights lawyer. The Democrats then began investigating. Ramirez was reluctant at first to speak publicly “partly because her memories contained gaps because she had been drinking at the time of the alleged incident,” The New Yorker reported. After “six days of carefully assessing her memories and consulting with her attorney, Ramirez said that she felt confident enough of her recollections” to speak publicly, the report said. The Associated Press tried reaching Ramirez at her home in Boulder, Colorado. She posted a sign on her front door, indicating she would have no comment. Joining the maelstrom, Michael Avenatti, the attorney representing porn actress Stormy Daniels in her legal fight with Trump, claimed to represent a woman with information about high school-era parties attended by Kavanaugh and urged the Senate to investigate. Avenatti told the AP that he will disclose his client’s identity in the coming days and that she is prepared to testify before the committee, as well as provide names of corroborating witnesses. A White House official not authorized to speak publicly questioned the accusations coming from Avenatti’s client, saying that the presence of the high-profile attorney — who has publicly taken on Trump and is weighing a 2020 Democratic presidential bid — makes the proceedings a “circus.” The accusation from Ramirez raises the stakes further for a dramatic showdown Thursday, as Kavanaugh and Ford testify in public about an incident she characterizes as attempted rape — and that he says simply never happened. Kavanaugh’s nomination hangs precariously. A handful of senators in both parties remain undecided on his nomination. Defections among Republicans would likely block his path to the Supreme Court. The White House is approaching Ford’s potential testimony with trepidation, nervous that an emotional appearance might not just damage Kavanaugh’s chances but could further energize female voters to turn out against Republicans in November. Still, the White House and Republicans have cast doubt on Ford’s allegations. The Judiciary panel said it had talked to three other people whom Ford has told The Washington Post were at the party where the alleged assault took place — Mark Judge, Patrick J. Smyth and Leland Ingham Keyser. All three told investigators that they had no recollection of the evening in question, the committee said. The Post reported Sunday that Keyser said in a brief interview at her home that she still believes Ford, even if she doesn’t remember the party. Kavanaugh plans to turn over to the committee personal calendars from the summer of 1982. Those calendars, he says, don’t show a party consistent with Ford’s description of the gathering in which she says he attacked her, The New York Times reported Sunday. The calendars list basketball games, movie outings, football workouts, college interviews and a few parties with names of friends other than those identified by Ford, according to the Times. A person working on Kavanaugh’s confirmation backed up the Times account of the calendars to the AP. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the matter. Even before the latest turns, the carefully negotiated hearing at the Senate Judiciary Committee with Kavanaugh and Ford carried echoes of the Anita Hill hearings in 1991. Then, like now, another Republican president had selected a Supreme Court nominee, now-Justice Clarence Thomas, facing accusations of sexual harassment. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, wrangled with Ford’s lawyers for the past
Brett Kavanaugh denies allegation of sexual misconduct in school
Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh on Friday denied an allegation of sexual misconduct from when he was in high school, seeking to defuse a potential threat to his confirmation as a handful of key senators remained silent on whether they would vote for him. In a statement released by the White House, Kavanaugh said: “I categorically and unequivocally deny this allegation. I did not do this back in high school or at any time.” Senate Republicans insist Kavanaugh’s confirmation remains on track. But the allegation has inflamed an already intense political battle over President Donald Trump’s nominee. It also pushes the #MeToo movement into the court fight, less than two months before congressional elections that have seen a surge of female Democratic candidates. The New Yorker magazine reported that the alleged incident took place at a party when Kavanaugh, now 53, was attending Georgetown Preparatory School. The woman making the allegation attended a nearby school. The magazine says the woman sent a letter about the allegation to Democrats. A Democratic aide and another person familiar with the letter confirmed Friday to The Associated Press that the allegation is sexual in nature. Two other people familiar with the matter confirmed it concerned an incident alleged to have occurred in high school. They were not authorized to speak publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity. The AP has not confirmed the details of the incident alleged in The New Yorker’s account. Rallying to Kavanaugh’s defense, 65 women who knew him in high school issued a letter saying Kavanaugh has “always treated women with decency and respect.” The letter was circulated by Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee. “We are women who have known Brett Kavanaugh for more than 35 years and knew him while he attended high school between 1979 and 1983,” wrote the women, who said most of them had attended all-girl high schools in the area. “For the entire time we have known Brett Kavanaugh, he has behaved honorably and treated women with respect.” The show of support for Kavanaugh was organized by his former law clerks. Three women reached by AP said they were first asked to sign the letter on Thursday. The swift pushback comes after the Senate Judiciary Committee’s top Democrat, Dianne Feinstein of California, notified federal investigators about information she received about the nominee. Feinstein won’t disclose the information publicly, but the FBI confirmed it has included it in Kavanaugh’s background file at the committee, now available confidentially to all senators. Kavanaugh’s nomination has divided the Senate and the new information complicates the process, especially as key Republican senators, including Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, are under enormous pressure from outside groups seeking to sway their votes on grounds that a Justice Kavanaugh might vote to undercut the Roe v. Wade ruling. One activist group favoring abortion choice, NARAL, called on Kavanaugh to withdraw from consideration. The Judiciary Committee, which has finished confirmation hearings for Kavanagh, still plans to vote next Thursday on whether to recommend that he be confirmed by the full Senate, a spokesman said. The White House called Feinstein’s move an “11th hour attempt to delay his confirmation.” Collins held an hour-long phone call with Kavanaugh on Friday, her spokeswoman confirmed. It had been a previously scheduled follow-up to an initial visit that Kavanaugh made to her office in August. It was not immediately clear if they discussed the new information. If Collins or Murkowski should vote for Kavanaugh, he is likely to be confirmed. Every other Republican in the Senate is expected to vote yes — and some Democrats from Trump-won states may join them — though it remains to be seen if the misconduct allegation will cost him any support. Feinstein said in a statement Thursday that she “received information from an individual concerning the nomination.” She said the person “strongly requested confidentiality, declined to come forward or press the matter further, and I have honored that decision.” The FBI confirmed that it received the information Wednesday evening and included it in Kavanaugh’s background file, which is maintained as part of his nomination. The agency said that is its standard process. Feinstein’s statement that she had “referred the matter to federal investigative authorities” jolted Capitol Hill and threatened to disrupt what had been a steady path toward confirmation for Kavanaugh by Republicans eager to see the conservative judge on the court. Feinstein, who is up for re-election this year, has held the letter close. Democratic senators on the panel met privately Wednesday evening and discussed the information, according to Senate aides who were not authorized to discuss the situation publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity. Some senators, including the No. 2 Democrat, Dick Durbin of Illinois, learned about the information for the first time at the meeting, according to one of the aides. A spokeswoman for Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., declined to confirm reports that the congresswoman had forwarded a letter containing the allegations to Feinstein. The spokeswoman said the office has a confidentiality policy regarding casework for constituents. A White House spokeswoman, Kerri Kupec, said the FBI has vetted Kavanaugh “thoroughly and repeatedly” during his career in government and the judiciary. She said Kavanaugh has had 65 meetings with senators — including with Feinstein — has sat through over 30 hours of testimony and publicly addressed more than 2,000 questions. “Not until the eve of his confirmation has Sen. Feinstein or anyone raised the specter of new ‘information’ about him,” she said. Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, the second-ranking Republican and a member of the committee, was also skeptical. “Let me get this straight: this is statement about secret letter regarding a secret matter and an unidentified person. Right,” he tweeted. Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, was unaware of the information until it was made public, according to a GOP committee aide. Kavanaugh has undergone six federal background checks over his time in government, including one for the nomination, the aide said. Republished with permission
Mum’s the word as Donald Trump remains silent on Roy Moore allegations
He’s arguably the most vocal president America has ever seen, and yet President Donald Trump has remained uncharacteristically quiet on the allegations surrounding Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore. Nearly a week after multiple women accused the former Alabama Chief Justice of sexual misconduct when they were teenagers and he was in his 30s, the POTUS has kept his lips sealed, twice dodging questions from reporters on both Tuesday and Wednesday. Trump, who has previously stopped his duties as Commander-in-Chief to weigh-in on just about everything — from the NFL, to “fake news,” to Tweeting insults to North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un — is seemingly at a loss for words as allegations of sexual misconduct against Moore continue to grow and GOP lawmakers from across the country call on him to withdraw from the race. The White House, however, has not completely ignored the allegations. Last Friday, less than 24 hours, after the bombshell report against Moore was published, Trump’s Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders touched on them briefly. “Like most Americans, the president believes we cannot allow a mere allegation, in this case, one from many years ago, to destroy a person’s life,” said Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders. “However, the president also believes that if these allegations are true, Judge Moore will do the right thing and step aside.” Moore faces Democratic opponent Doug Jones on Dec. 12. Should the allegations ultimately sink him, Republicans in the U.S. Senate would see their majority fall to 51-49.
Woman accuses Senate-hopeful Roy Moore of sexual contact when she was 14
On Thursday, The Washington Post published a bombshell report with the accounts of four women who claim Alabama-Republican and U.S. Senate nominee Roy Moore sexually pursued them when he was in his 30s and they were in their teens. Leigh Corfman says she was only 14 years old when Moore, then 32, approached her outside a courtroom in Etowah County, Ala. According to Corfman he ultimately drove her to his home in the woods,told her she was pretty and kissed her, and then undressed her. “I wanted it over with — I wanted out,” she told the Washington Post. She remembered thinking. “Please just get this over with. Whatever this is, just get it over.” Three other women, all of whom also went on the record, also say Moore pursued them when they were teenagers and he was in his early 30s. According to Wendy Miller, then 14, Debbie Wesson Gibson, then 17, and Gloria Thacker Deason, then 18, they were not forced into any sort of sexual contact. Moore adamantly denies the allegations. “These allegations are completely false and are a desperate political attack by the National Democrat Party and the Washington Post on this campaign,” Moore, now 70, said in a statement. Subsequently, Bill Armistead, Moore’s Campaign Chairman, released the following statement: Judge Roy Moore has endured the most outlandish attacks on any candidate in the modern political arena, but this story in today’s Washington Post alleging sexual impropriety takes the cake. National liberal organizations know their chosen candidate Doug Jones is in a death spiral, and this is their last ditch Hail Mary. The Washington Post has already endorsed the Judge’s opponent, and for months, they have engaged in a systematic campaign to distort the truth about the Judge’s record and career and derail his campaign. In fact, just two days ago, the Foundation for Moral Law sent a retraction demand to the Post for the false stories they wrote about the Judge’s work and compensation. But apparently, there is no end to what the Post will allege. The Judge has been married to Kayla for nearly 33 years, has 4 children, and 5 grandchildren. He has been a candidate in four hotly-contested statewide political contests, twice as a gubernatorial candidate and twice as a candidate for chief justice. He has been a three-time candidate for local office, and he has been a national figure in two ground-breaking, judicial fights over religious liberty and traditional marriage. After over 40 years of public service, if any of these allegations were true, they would have been made public long before now. Judge Roy Moore is winning with a double-digit lead. So it is no surprise, with just over four weeks remaining, in a race for the U.S. Senate with national implications, that the Democratic Party and the country’s most liberal newspaper would come up with a fabrication of this kind. “This garbage is the very definition of fake news and intentional defamation.” On Thursday, Judge Moore called the allegations by the Post “completely false and a desperate political attack.” Moore’s Democratic opponent, Doug Jones, also weighed in on the allegations. “Roy Moore needs to answer these serious charges,” Jones briefly said. Gov. Kay Ivey weighed in as well. “These allegations are deeply disturbing. I will hold judgment until we know the facts,” said Ivey. “The people of Alabama deserve to know the truth and will make their own decisions.” The Alabama Senate special election is Dec. 12.
