Day 616: Kavanaugh goes full conspiracy theorist for sexual assault defense

Supreme Court nominee unhinged as accuser remains calm and credible.

Judge Brett Kavanaugh and his accuser Dr. Christine Blasey Ford testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday. Dr. Ford alleged that Kavanaugh — Donald Trump’s nominee to succeed Anthony Kennedy on the Supreme Court — sexually assaulted her by grinding on top of her and trying to remove her clothing while muffling her cries for help when the two were in high school.

She remained calm and poised throughout the testimony, even as the Republicans pawned off their questions to a hired prosecutor from Arizona. She never interrupted questioners and was respectful of everyone’s time and inquiries.

Fighting back tears, Dr. Ford testified that her strongest memory was tied to the fact that Kavanaugh and his friend in the room, Mark Judge, laughed during the attack, something that continued to haunt her decades later.

She unequivocally stated that she was 100 percent sure that Kavanaugh was her attacker and Judge was a witness. Her testimony was so unimpeachable that conservatives tried to grasp at straws that her fear of flying and her ability to fly to Washington for the hearing showed she wasn’t credible.

When it was Kavanaugh’s turn to testify, the previously publicly mild-mannered Kavanaugh was bitter and furious. He shouted, ranted and raved about a political conspiracy against him, breaking all sorts of norms along the way.

At multiple points Kavanaugh sobbed, including when talking about making calendars in the 1980s, much in the same way his father had.

When asked by Democrats why he wouldn’t support a full-blown FBI investigation into the many allegations against him, he hemmed and hawed but claimed the current questioning was good enough. This despite Dr. Ford’s allegation that Judge was in the room while Kavanaugh attacked her and Judge not being subpoenaed by the committee. A short statement signed by Judge’s lawyer was plenty of evidence of Kavanaugh’s innocence, he claimed, despite the fact that the statement could not be cross examined or delved into deeper by the committee.

He seemed to be less than truthful during multiple points of his testimony. Regarding his yearbook page that seemed to make sexual references to a “devil’s triangle” and “boofing,” Kavanaugh responded that the former was a drinking game and the latter referred to flatulence.

He claimed he didn’t watch Dr. Ford’s testimony, but that’s being rebutted by a report from The Wall Street Journal.

Kavanaugh denied being a heavy drinker or ever having a foggy memory from drinking. While he admitted many, many times that he enjoyed beer and partying, he said that he only ever threw up from drinking because he had a sensitive stomach.

He was evasive, filibustered Democratic senators’ questions frequently and tried talking over questioners at multiple opportunities. When asked a direct question about his drinking history, he talked about how he was a star athlete. When asked about specific allegations made against him, he responded that he studied a lot.

Kavanaugh was eventually bolstered by Republican senators who lambasted the entire event as a political sham, while simultaneously and paradoxically praising Dr. Ford and calling her a brave victim.

When the testimonies were over, it seemed as though there were still many questions as to whether Kavanaugh would get confirmed. In essence, it appears as though his confirmation will come down to four of the more moderate senators, Susan Collins (R-ME), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Jeff Flake (R-AZ) and Joe Manchin (D-WV), who seem as though they will be voting as a bloc on the nomination.

What happens at this point is anyone’s guess, but there is still a planned committee vote set for Friday, after which there will likely be a full vote by the Senate next week if Republicans have 50 votes.

616 days in, 846 to go

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