When the Supreme Court confirmation hearings for Judge Brett Kavanaugh began two weeks ago, Family Policy Alliance sent an email summarizing the positive progress of the nomination to that point.
But that email also listed three factors indicating that the confirmation wasn’t a done deal. The first point read as follows:
“First, the Left is willing to do anything. Are surprise accusers – a la the Clarence Thomas hearing in 1991 – in the offing for this hearing? At this point, nothing from the Left should be shocking.”
Just eight days later – with the hearings done and a vote in the Senate Judiciary Committee imminent – came the first whispers of a letter from an accuser. Over the weekend, the whole story broke, and we now know that a woman has accused Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct while they were in high school in about 1982. As a result, the committee vote has been postponed and a special hearing has been scheduled for Monday to hear from the accuser and Judge Kavanaugh.
It is appropriate that the accuser be heard and that all known facts – if there are any – are considered in advance of the vote.
It is also appropriate to question the merits of this allegation in light of the circumstances:
- The timing: Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) had the letter for two months but never raised the issue until this key moment.
- The motive: Evidence seems to indicate that the accuser is a left-wing professor and a Democrat activist, raising the question of her motives in defeating this nomination.
- The burden: The accuser’s attorney and others on the Left have put the burden on Judge Kavanaugh to disprove an event that allegedly happened 36 years ago – which both Kavanaugh and the only supposed witness categorically deny.
- The record: Judge Kavanaugh’s personal reputation throughout his adult life has been pristine.
The bottom line is that this accusation was predictable, not in its specifics but in the timing and the impossible burden to disprove a negative from decades ago.
Please pray for this process, and if you wish to encourage your senators to support the nomination of Judge Kavanaugh, you may do so quickly and easily at our Action Center.
The Family Policy Alliance Team
