Anonymous Smear of Kavanaugh: He Tried to Force Himself On Me When He Was Seventeen (But Failed)

Whatever.

On Thursday, Senate Democrats disclosed that they had referred a complaint regarding President Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, Judge Brett Kavanaugh, to the F.B.I. for investigation. The complaint came from a woman who accused Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct when they were both in high school, more than thirty years ago.

The woman, who has asked not to be identified, first approached Democratic lawmakers in July, shortly after Trump nominated Kavanaugh. The allegation dates back to the early nineteen-eighties, when Kavanaugh was a high-school student at Georgetown Preparatory School, in Bethesda, Maryland, and the woman attended a nearby high school.

Thus, anyone attending a high school within 30 miles of Kavanaugh could make this kind of vague allegation. The anonymous accuser doesn't establish she even went to high school with Kavanaugh. She just claims she went to a nearby high school.

That wouldn't be a huge issue except for the fact she offers no evidence of anything. At least if she went to the same high school, one could say, "Well, she did provably know him, at least."

In the letter, the woman alleged that, during an encounter at a party, Kavanaugh held her down, and that he attempted to force himself on her.

"Force himself on her." This is cutely phrased. It is intended to imply rape, of course, but note, it doesn't say that. The allegation could be about as minor an infraction as a kiss.

She claimed in the letter that Kavanaugh and a classmate of his, both of whom had been drinking, turned up music that was playing in the room to conceal the sound of her protests, and that Kavanaugh covered her mouth with his hand. She was able to free herself.

She freed herself from two men grasping her and forcing themselves on her?

I guess they weren't trying that hard.

Although the alleged incident took place decades ago and the three individuals involved were minors, the woman said that the memory had been a source of ongoing distress for her, and that she had sought psychological treatment as a result.

I'll bet. I'm going to guess that this woman has been in and out of psychiatric care and has a history of serial accusations.

And I'm going to speculate that her psychological treatment has nothing to do with this alleged "assault." I'm going to guess, rather, that the allegation of assault has something to do with her history of psychological problems.

Note that this article does not include any mention of her friends saying "Yes, she said that to me at the time."

Nor does it explain why these memories haven't caused her pain before, like when Kavanaugh was being blocked from being appointed as a federal judge for three years.

I'm very curious about these memories. Parts of the article suggest -- suggest only; the article does not say this; but then, the article is written cutely so I am curious -- that maybe these memories just recently "resurfaced."

See here, for example:

In recent months, the woman had told friends that Kavanaugh's nomination had revived the pain of the memory, and that she was grappling with whether to go public with her story.

Did it revive just the pain of the memory, or did it revive the memory itself?

Bear in mind, Feinstein sat on this letter for months. I assume there was some reason she was hesitant to do anything with it.

Kavanaugh and the unnamed male friend deny the claim:

In a statement, Kavanaugh said, "I categorically and unequivocally deny this allegation. I did not do this back in high school or at any time."

Kavanaugh's classmate said of the woman’s allegation, "I have no recollection of that."

The woman declined a request for an interview.

Kimberly Strassel points out the claim should be doubted simply for the timing, given that these allegations could have been aired this summer, but Democrats held on to the letter until the hearings were over.

The Democrats don't want to vote on a Supreme Court justice before the midterms -- too many Trump State Democrats would be put in a politically difficult position. And they released the letter at this time, and not earlier, to tank this nomination and make sure no other nomination could be made before the election.

She's Not Wrong:

posted by Ace of Spades at 02:57 PM

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