The Morning Briefing: Delay, Delay, Delay on Kavanaugh... and Much, Much More

Happy Wednesday!

And Gut Yontiv to my Jewish friends. Today is Yom Kippur, so Liz Sheld is off and you have to put up with a long Kavanaugh rant from yours truly. Don’t worry, there’s a lot of news there, and Democrats need their own day of atonement to reconsider all they’re doing to derail this Supreme Court nomination.

Stall-gate

So…. let’s dive right in. Christine Blasey Ford, a psychology professor, has accused President Donald Trump’s second Supreme Court nominee, Judge Brett Kavanaugh, of sexually assaulting her at a party in high school. The judge categorically denied the allegations, which came shortly before the Senate Judiciary Committee was due to vote on his confirmation.

By the way, the allegations differ from the notes recorded by Ford’s therapist in 2012, when she first discussed this party. Her original recollection to her therapist did not mention Kavanaugh, and it involved four perpetrators of the assault, not two.

Also importantly, unlike in notorious #MeToo cases like those of Larry Nassar and Harvey Weinstein, this accusation has not launched more accusations. The most prominent men accused of sexual assault in the #MeToo era have had a long history of abusing women — many women.

The allegations are decades old, well beyond the statute of limitations. This fact means that Ford is essentially a character witness against Kavanaugh. That’s why it matters that approximately 200 women have testified to the judge’s high moral character (a story of mine that Rush Limbaugh talked about yesterday). It also matters that two of Kavanaugh’s former girlfriends — who both knew him in high school — called him “a perfect gentleman.”

Ford deserves to be heard, but she seems to be leveraging her testimony to delay Kavanaugh’s confirmation as long as possible. Here’s where the news comes in.

CNN may be fake news on some things, but this report is real:

In a letter addressed to Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley of Iowa, and obtained by CNN’s “Anderson Cooper 360,” Christine Blasey Ford’s attorneys argue that “a full investigation by law enforcement officials will ensure that the crucial facts and witnesses in this matter are assessed in a non-partisan manner, and that the Committee is fully informed before conducting any hearing or making any decisions.”

The letter from Ford’s lawyers notes that despite receiving a “stunning amount of support from her community,” Ford has also “been the target of vicious harassment and even death threats” and has been forced to leave her home.

“We would welcome the opportunity to talk with you and Ranking Member Feinstein to discuss reasonable steps as to how Dr. Ford can cooperate while also taking care of her own health and security,” the letter from Ford’s lawyers said.

It is tragic that Ford has received harassment and death threats. Even if her claims are false, she does not deserve that. However, her demand for a law enforcement investigation is a painfully obvious delay tactic.

Again, the alleged incident is beyond the statute of limitations. This means Kavanaugh cannot be prosecuted. The FBI performs background checks into Supreme Court nominees, mostly focusing on evidence of a federal crime or of a threat to national security. Naturally, the White House would order such an investigation, and Trump said he does not want the FBI involved.

The hearing for Kavanaugh and Ford to testify about the allegations was set for this coming Monday. Kavanaugh is more than ready and willing to testify, but Ford seems extremely hesitant. She knows it’s her word against his, and perhaps she wants the FBI to back up her claims, but it seems unlikely the FBI will uncover much more than what we already know.

We know that Ford claims there was a sexual assault, that Kavanaugh attempted to remove her clothes and rape her in a room with his friend Mark Judge. She also claims to have gotten away before any rape occurred, therefore leaving no material evidence of the event. Perhaps if she narrows down the date of the party, and if witnesses can say if Kavanaugh attended the party or not, that would work toward corroboration. Then Kavanaugh would have to explain the party.

But how many people are going to remember everyone who attended a party from 35 years ago? Ford has admitted she didn’t quite remember the exact date of the party, which is even more problematic for investigating her claims.

Even if the event happened, Kavanaugh’s life for the past 35 years testifies to his high moral character and his respect for women. The judge made history by hiring the most female clerks in one year at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. He became a lawyer to follow in his mother’s footsteps. Women who clerked for him said he was an excellent mentor. He coaches his daughter’s basketball team, for crying out loud!

This helps explain why former President George W. Bush — no fan of Trump — has continued to stand by Kavanaugh after Ford’s allegations surfaced.

Furthermore, Ford — a liberal activist who marched in the Women’s March and planned to join the anti-Trump “March for Science” last year — hired Debra Katz, an attorney who has long contributed to Democrat campaigns, according to Open Secrets, as previously reported by The Gateway Pundit. Katz, who has long represented sexual assault accusers and downplayed the sexual assault allegations against former President Bill Clinton and former Senator Al Franken (D-Minn.).

Indeed, the Left has jumped into action since Ford came forward. On Tuesday, The Daily Caller‘s Peter Hasson and Joe Simonson reported that a coalition of groups such as the Women’s March, the Center for Popular Democracy, and Housing Works “scheduled the near-constant disruptions at the Kavanaugh hearings as part of an organized effort to derail the confirmation process in a series of meetings since he was first nominated.”

These organizations have promised to fund protesters’ post-and-forfeit payments, small cash sums paid to resolve low-level misdemeanor crimes and avoid jail time for illegal protesting.

The groups have planned anti-Kavanaugh protests for Thursday and next Monday.

The group Demand Justice also rolled out a new Washington, D.C., ad attacking Trump. The ad ties the president to Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore and Judge Kavanaugh, suggesting a moral equivalence between the three men. The group claims it plans to spend $700K on the ad.

How are Ford’s stall tactics anything other than a political ploy, a last-ditch effort to stop Trump’s second Supreme Court nominee? Republicans have been more than willing to give Christine Blasey Ford a hearing, and she’s the one who refuses to speak. How does that compute?

Good news out of Texas

If you live in the U.S., no matter how red you think your state or Congressional district is, make sure you turn out to vote in November. President Trump and the Republican Congress are just getting started, and we seriously need conservative reforms to our government. We cannot afford Democrats — and especially socialists — wresting back control and working to expand the size and scope of government.

All that said, it’s good to hear that Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) is ahead in the latest poll. Overhyped claims about a “blue wave” have gone so far as to suggest the Lone Star State might flip in November. A new Quinnipiac poll put Cruz well ahead of his Democratic challenger, Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-Texas), 54 percent to 45 percent.

While Trump has suggested there will be a “red wave,” as opposed to a “blue wave,” recent history suggests midterm elections are a referendum on the president, and his party tends to lose seats in Congress. Republicans tend to do better in midterms, but Democrats are indeed energized due to Trump Derangement Syndrome. Seeing Trump as “literally Hitler” tends to make you want to vote against him.

That’s why we Republicans cannot afford to get complacent. Luckily, former President Barack Obama has hit the campaign trail, to remind us all why President Trump got elected in the first place. Let’s hope he drives up GOP turnout.

Photo of the day.

This is the Sacré-Cœur Basilica, a church the people of Paris built after France lost the Franco-Prussian War in 1871. On this day — September 19 — in 1870, the Prussians (whose kingdom became the German Empire) besieged the City of Paris. They took the city on January 28, 1871. The French people built the Sacré-Cœur to return to God after losing that war. They attributed their stunning defeat to their rejection of God.

When I traveled to Paris ten years ago, I was struck by the beauty of this basilica, and I will never forget it. I’ll be taking my wife there in November, when she goes to Paris for the first time. I highly recommend this cathedral.