Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to Supreme Court; Poll & Allegations of Sexual Misconduct

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[QueEx]

Christine Blasey Ford to Testify on Thursday

Screenshot: TODAY (YouTube)
Christine Blasey Ford’s lawyers said in a statement Sunday that she is ready to testify in an open hearing Thursday about her allegation that Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her, CNN reports.

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[QueEx]

The Kavanaugh nomination ​

just got even more complicated





(CNN) Democrats are demanding an immediate halt to Brett Kavanaugh's nomination process after his increasingly troubled hopes of reaching the Supreme Court were hit by a new allegation of sexual misconduct as a young man.

Kavanaugh quickly denied the new accusation by a female former fellow student about an alleged incident when he was at Yale University in the early 1980s. He branded the story reported by The New Yorker as part of a smear campaign by Democrats, a charge echoed by the White House.
The fresh trouble for Kavanaugh emerged hours after arrangements were finally locked in for a Senate hearing on Thursday at which his first accuser, Christine Blasey Ford, will allege that he sexually assaulted her when they were teenagers in high school.

The top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, Dianne Feinstein, responded to the new allegation by calling on the Republican committee chairman, Sen. Chuck Grassley, to order an "immediate postponement" of any further action on Kavanaugh's nomination.

Her intervention is likely to focus extra scrutiny on the accusation reported by The New Yorker and to raise the stakes even further for Thursday's hearing at which Kavanaugh is expected to present a vehement defense, which now looms as crucial for his confirmation hopes.

"I also ask that the newest allegations of sexual misconduct be referred to the FBI for investigation, and that you join our request for the White House to direct the FBI to investigate the allegations of Christine Blasey Ford as well as these new claims," Feinstein wrote.

Grassley's office issued a statement accusing Democrats of again actively withholding information from the rest of the committee only to drop it at "politically opportune moments."

"It increasingly appears that they are more interested in a political takedown than pursuing allegations through a bipartisan and professional investigative process," Grassley's spokesman Taylor Foy said, while pledging to evaluate the new allegations.

Kavanaugh was nominated by President Donald Trump to be the man who would enshrine a conservative majority on the Supreme Court for a generation.
But the allegations against him have emerged as a severe complication for Republicans, who are under intense pressure from their grass roots to swiftly confirm him while they seek to mitigate further damage with women voters who strongly favor Democrats in November's midterm elections.

If Kavanaugh is eventually confirmed, it will be by the tightest of margins because Republicans can only lose one vote in the Senate if all the Democrats stick together.

So Sunday's developments and Thursday's hearing will intensify pressure on two of the Republicans seen as the most likely to flip, Maine's Sen. Susan Collins and Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski. Outgoing Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake, who sits on the Judiciary Committee, is also a potential worry for the White House.
There was no immediate reaction to Sunday's new allegation from any of that trio.


A new allegation

The New Yorker story focuses on an allegation made by Deborah Ramirez, 53, who was at Yale with Kavanaugh and said she remembers him exposing himself to her at a dormitory party.

In a statement, Kavanaugh issued a strong denial.

"This alleged event from 35 years ago did not happen," he said in a statement. "The people who knew me then know that this did not happen, and have said so. This is a smear, plain and simple. I look forward to testifying on Thursday about the truth, and defending my good name -- and the reputation for character and integrity I have spent a lifetime building -- against these last-minute allegations."​

Kerri Kupec, a White House spokeswoman also issued a statement.

"This 35-year-old, uncorroborated claim is the latest in a coordinated smear campaign by the Democrats designed to tear down a good man," the statement said. "This claim is denied by all who were said to be present and is wholly inconsistent with what many women and men who knew Judge Kavanaugh at the time in college say. The White House stands firmly behind Judge Kavanaugh."​

Ramirez was initially hesitant to speak publicly, she told the magazine, partly because her memory contained gaps because she had been drinking at the time of the alleged incident. She was unsure of Kavanaugh's role in the incident at first, but after six days of carefully assessing memories and consulting with her attorney, Ramirez told The New Yorker she felt confident enough in her recollections to say she remembers it was Kavanaugh who had exposed himself.
A classmate of Ramirez's who was not at the party and who declined to be identified, told the magazine that he is "one hundred per cent sure" that either on the night of the party or in the next day or two he was told Kavanaugh was the student who exposed himself to Ramirez.

Several classmates of Ramirez interviewed by The New Yorker or who issued statements to the magazine said they had no memory of the alleged incident or disputed her account of events.

CNN has not independently confirmed The New Yorker's reporting.

Despite Kavanaugh's denials, the new allegation will add even more significance to Thursday's hearing, and may cause new pressure on Republicans to reverse their refusal to ask the FBI to reopen its background check on the nominee, who is currently an appeals court judge.

Kavanaugh is likely to face intensely embarrassing questions at the hearing from Democrats about his drinking, his sexual history and his behavior as a young man, both at Georgetown Prep, a private school outside Washington, and at Yale in the 1980s.

Kavanaugh has vehemently denied he assaulted Ford as a drunken teenager at a party. But he is now facing a fight for his reputation as he battles to keep a cherished prize, a lifetime appointment to the Supreme Court from slipping from his grasp before millions of TV viewers.

Though he has repeatedly asked for a chance to give his side of the story, the fact he has to testify must be seen as a weakening of Kavanaugh's position, since had Ford not agreed to appear, it is likely he would already be days away from being confirmed by the Senate.

And there is always the risk that however credible his presentation, political forces unleashed by the hearing evolve in unexpected ways, defy attempts by his supporters to control them and ultimately weaken and even destroy his nomination.

There is so far no indication that Republican leaders on Capitol Hill or in the White House might begin to consider whether the controversy over Kavanaugh's past is beginning to hurt his chances of confirmation. But any nomination that becomes becalmed is vulnerable to new attacks and information that could weaken the momentum towards confirmation.

• CNN's Kaitlan Collins reported Sunday: that multiple senior White House officials had privately expressed concerns last week that a second Kavanaugh accuser would emerge.

• At least three senior aides said last week: they were confident Kavanaugh would be confirmed but warned a second accusation could derail his nomination altogether.

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https://edition.cnn.com/2018/09/24/politics/kavanaugh-new-allegation-supreme-court-future/index.html

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A Third Accuser ?

 

[QueEx]

In sworn affidavit, woman alleges Kavanaugh was present at parties where girls were drugged, raped

A woman who socialized with Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh in high school alleged Wednesday that Kavanaugh engaged in "abusive and physically aggressive behavior" while drunk. Julie Swetnick submitted a sworn affidavit to the Senate Judiciary Committee alleging that Kavanaugh, with others, would "spike" drinks at parties with drugs or high-proof alcohol, and claims that she saw him wait for a "turn" with incapacitated girls who were being gang-raped. "I became the victim of one of these 'gang' or 'train' rapes where ... [Kavanaugh was] present," she wrote. Committee lawyers are "in the process of reviewing" Swetnick's affidavit, said a spokesman, while Swetnick's attorney Michael Avenatti saidshe is willing to testify to the Senate. "I don't know who this is and this never happened," said Kavanaugh in a statement.

Source: Michael Avenatti, Washington Examiner

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[COINTELPRO]

Why is the voting age 18 and drinking age 21? His parents and school are more accountable for his behavior than he is. I would find out if these higher level executive function were put in place. If his Catholic school or parents never discussed sexual assault which I doubt.

A company that nevers discusses safety on the job to a new employees is liable. Once that safety discussion takes place, the employee is on the hook.

We have people sitting on juries with criminal backgrounds judging people all the time.

 

[MASTERBAKER]

He really showed his true colors today. That’s the same face and anger that Dr. Ford faced on that harrowing night...

 

[MASTERBAKER]

 

[MASTERBAKER]

Kavanaugh isn't upset that he sexually assaulted Dr. Ford, he's upset that he got CAUGHT.

 

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A Republican Yale drinking buddy of Kavanaugh's tells CNN he lied to the Senate Judiciary Committee

September 28, 2018

When Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh told Fox News he never drank to excess, several of his Yale classmates were so outraged they decided to set the record straight. One of them, Lynne Brookes, also accepted Chris Cuomo's invitation to join him on CNN after Kavanaugh repeated his claim of relative sobriety under oath before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday. Cuomo asked Brookes — a Republican who admires Kavanaugh's judicial record — why she changed her mind.

"I'll tell you, Chris, I watched the whole hearing, and a number of my Yale colleagues and I were extremely disappointed in Brett Kavanaugh's characterization of himself and the way that he evaded his excessive drinking question" and "was lying to the Senate Judiciary Committee today," Brookes said. "There is no doubt in my mind that while at Yale, he was a big partier, often drank to excess, and there had to be a number of nights where he does not remember."

She said she can "almost guarantee" he doesn't remember a night she witnessed where he was "stumbling drunk, in a ridiculous costume, saying really dumb things" to pledge a fraternity.​

Brookes also dismissed Kavanaugh's defense that his studies and sports precluded heavy drinking, noting she played two varsity sports. "I studied really hard, too," she said. "I went to Wharton business school, I did very well at Yale, I also drank to excess many nights with Brett Kavanaugh." She recounted a party where Kavanaugh and Chris Dudley, one of his character witnesses, humiliated a female student by barging in on her in a compromising position.

"I'm not saying it's wrong that he drank," Cuomo concluded after the interview, but "if he's going to be the ultimate judge of truth in our society, a Supreme Court justice, and at 53 years old he's going to lie about what he did when he was 15, what else will he lie about?" Watch below. Peter Weber

 

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Report: FBI interviews Deborah Ramirez, second Kavanaugh accuser
http://theweek.com/5things/799138/report-fbi-interviews-deborah-ramirez-second-kavanaugh-accuser
Deborah Ramirez spoke with the FBI on Sunday as part of the investigation into Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, a person familiar with the matter told CNN.

Ramirez told The New Yorker last week that during a party at Yale their freshman year, Kavanaugh exposed himself to her. CNN reports Ramirez gave the FBI the names of witnesses to the alleged encounter, but it's unclear if agents will speak to those people or if the scope of the investigation allows this.

An attorney for Christine Blasey Ford, the professor who testified Thursday in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her when they were teenagers, said she has not been contacted by the FBI. Kavanaugh has denied the allegations.


Source: CNN

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Kavanaugh got 'belligerent,' aggressive after drinking, Yale friend says
http://theweek.com/5things/799135/k...nt-aggressive-after-drinking-yale-friend-says
One of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh's friends from Yale, Charles Ludington, will give the FBI a statement Monday about Kavanaugh's drunken behavior during college, Ludington tells The Washington Post. Ludington, an associate professor at North Carolina State University, writes in his statement that when Kavanaugh "got drunk, he was often belligerent and aggressive." Ludington said he once witnessed Kavanaugh "respond to a semi-hostile remark, not by defusing the situation, but by throwing his beer in the man's face and starting a fight that ended with one of our mutual friends in jail."

Ludington also said that Kavanaugh "lied about his past actions on national television" during his Senate Judiciary Committee testimony last week.


Source: The Washington Post

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Poll: Voters believe Ford over Kavanaugh

A Quinnipiac University poll released Monday found that 48 percent of voters say Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh should not be confirmed, while 42 percent say he should.

Support for Kavanaugh varies across demographic groups —55 percent of women oppose his confirmation, while 37 percent support it.

Men support Kavanaugh's confirmation 49 percent to 40 percent. A slim majority of white voters, 51 percent, say Kavanaugh should be confirmed, while 81 percent of black voters and 65 percent of Hispanic voters say he should be rejected.

Forty-eight percent of voters believe Christine Blasey Ford, who alleges that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her in the 1980s, over Kavanaugh, while 41 percent believe Kavanaugh over Ford. The Senate is awaiting an FBI investigation into the allegations before Kavanaugh's final confirmation vote.

Source: Quinnipiac University

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Texts suggest Kavanaugh asked friend to defend him before New Yorker published accuser's story

Text messages obtained by NBC News suggest Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh spoke with at least one Yale classmate about Deborah Ramirez before The New Yorker published an article that included her accusation that Kavanaugh exposed himself to her at a party when they were college freshman.

The texts are between Kerry Berchem and Karen Yarasavage, college friends of Kavanaugh and Ramirez. One of the messages from Yarasavage states that Kavanaugh asked her to go on the record refuting Ramirez's allegation. During his Senate Judiciary Committee testimony last week, Kavanaugh declared under oath the first time he heard of Ramirez's accusation was when The New Yorker published her account on Sept. 23.

Berchem told NBC News she has been trying to get these text messages to the FBI, as part of their investigation into Kavanaugh, but no one has contacted her yet.

Source: NBC News

 

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Drew Sheneman Copyright 2017 Tribune Content Agency

 

[COINTELPRO]

The U.S. has a long history after the end of slavery of using criminal laws to exploit or deny opportunity. I would pay market wages to people in prison or confirm this guy to prevent any opportunity for people to get exploited.

 

[QueEx]

David Horsey Copyright 2017 Tribune Content Agency

 

[michigantoga]

People really believe that they will stop a WHITE man from doing what he wants....

Then a group of WHITE men at that!

Trump is set for an 8 year run, unless Biden runs for president

 

[MASTERBAKER]

 

[QueEx]

FBI director faces new scrutiny over investigation of Brett Kavanaugh

Stephanie Kirchgaessner in Washington DC
8 hrs ago
9/14/2021

FBI director Chris Wray is facing new scrutiny of the bureau’s handling of its 2018 background investigation of Brett Kavanaugh,
including its claim that the FBI lacked the authority to conduct a further investigation into the then supreme court nominee.


At the heart of the new questions that Wray will face later this week, when he testifies before the Senate judiciary committee, is a 2010 Memorandum of Understanding that the FBI has recently said constrained the agency’s ability to conduct any further investigations of allegations of misconduct.

It is not clear whether that claim is accurate, based on a close reading of the MOU, which was released in court records following a Freedom of Information Act request.

The FBI was called to investigate allegations of sexual misconduct against Kavanaugh during his Senate confirmation process in 2018, after he was accused of assault by Christine Blasey Ford, a professor who knew Kavanaugh when they were both in high school. He also faced other accusations, including that he had exposed himself to a classmate at Yale called Deborah Ramirez. Kavanaugh denied both accusations.

The FBI closed its extended background check of Kavanaugh after four days and did not interview either Blasey Ford or Kavanaugh. The FBI also disclosed to the Senate this June – two years after questions were initially asked – that it had received 4,500 tips from the public during the background check and that it had shared all “relevant tips” with the White House Counsel at that time. It is not clear whether those tips were ever investigated.

The FBI said in its letter to two senators – Sheldon Whitehouse and Christopher Coons – that the FBI did not have the authority under the 2010 MOU at the time to “unilaterally conduct further investigative activity absent instructions from the requesting entity”. In other words, the FBI has said it would have required explicit instructions from the Trump White House to conduct further investigation under the existing 2010 guidelines on how such investigations ought to be conducted.

But an examination by the Guardian of the 2010 MOU, which was signed by the then attorney general, Eric Holder, and then White House counsel, Robert Bauer, does not make explicitly clear that the FBI was restricted in terms of how it would conduct its investigation.

The MOU, which was released in court documents in 2019 as part of Freedom of Information Act litigation brought against the US government by Buzzfeed, also does not explicitly state that the White House had the power to set the process parameters on any investigation. The MOU does seem to suggest that the White House had the authority to limit the FBI to investigate particular issues and questions.

Wray is likely to face scrutiny on why information that was specific to the allegations of sexual misconduct were not fully explored, including evidence that was reportedly offered to investigators by an alleged witness named Max Stier, an attorney and former classmate of Ramirez, who reportedly notified senators that he had witnessed the event Ramirez recounted.

Stier’s account was never examined by the FBI.

In a statement to the Guardian, Sheldon Whitehouse, the Democrat from Rhode Island who has led Democrats’ demand for answers on the investigation, said: “In its years-late response to our questions, the FBI leaned hard on the notion that this MOU limited its authority to be the FBI and investigate wrongdoing. Now that we have the MOU, it’s even harder to understand the Bureau’s excuses for ignoring credible information it received. Director Wray ought to be ready to answer my questions about this episode – I won’t stop asking until he does.”

The FBI declined to comment.

Wray will be testifying before the Senate on Wednesday, at a hearing that will be focused on the FBI’s handling of its investigation into Larry Nassar, the convicted sex offender who served for 18 years as the team doctor of the US women’s national gymnastics team. Simone Biles, the US gymnast and Olympic gold medalist, will also be testifying.

Kavanaugh was confirmed to his lifetime appointment on the court on 6 October 2018 by a vote of 50-48 and helped cement a conservative majority on the powerful body.


FBI director faces new scrutiny over investigation of Brett Kavanaugh (msn.com)