Pressure Mounts on Supreme Court Nominee Brett Kavanaugh

On September 16, 2018, Senator Dianne Feinstein suspended the Supreme Court confirmation vote due a sexual assault accusation by Dr. Christine Blasey Ford. It has been reported that Dr. Ford had disclosed this to Dianne Feinstein back in July, but requested to remain anonymous. However, after having her identity shared by undercover journalists, both compromising her place of work and her home, she decided to put a name to her story.

The report is that Dr. Ford, at the time a 15 year-old student of Holton-Arms High School, went to a house party in 1982, where SC nominee Brett Kavanaugh and his friend Mark Judge, students of Georgetown Prep, attempted to strip her clothing and rape her. Judge, Kavanaugh, and Ford were supposedly in the same room together at the time of the assault, and it is reported that Kavanaugh turned the music in the room up to drown out the sounds of her screams. Kavanaugh then covered her mouth with one hand, and attempted to strip her clothing with the other. However, Kavanaugh could not manage to take off the one-piece bathing suit under her dress, so in a final effort, Judge tried to help restrain her on the bed. Dr. Ford managed to escape the 17 year-old’s grip and hid in a bathroom for a long time. From there, she escaped later in the night (Seger).

This wasn’t, however, the only accusation. There are two other reported victims of sexual assault by Mr. Kavanaugh, including Deborah Ramirez and Julie Swetnick from back in high school and in college. Unfortunately, neither stories could be corroborated with any other witnesses (Seger).

Approximately thirty years later, Dr. Ford, now a Professor at Palo Alto University, only revealed her story to a marriage counselor back in 2012, without naming Kavanaugh. In response to the allegations, Kavanaugh denies any and all allegations and even shared his calendar from 1982 to show that he never attended any house party at the time. On top of that, the Senate Judiciary Committee agreed to hold a hearing for Dr. Ford and Mr. Kavanaugh to testify on Thursday, the 27th of September. However, many on both sides of the aisle demand the FBI to investigate. On the other hand, others question the jurisdiction of the bureau, as well as the statute of limitations in this case. A vote will be reached by the end of the weekend after the hearing (Mack).

Sources

Mack, Justin L. “Brett Kavanaugh News: Allegations against Kavanaugh, His Responses and Trump’s Statements.” Indianapolis Star, IndyStar, 27 Sept. 2018, www.indystar.com/story/news/2018/09/26/judge-brett-kavanaugh-hearing-allegations-christine-blasey-ford-julie-swetnick-deborah-ramirez/1433266002/.

Segers, Grace. “A Rundown of the Allegations against Brett Kavanaugh.” CBS News, CBS Interactive, 26 Sept. 2018, www.cbsnews.com/news/a-rundown-of-the-allegations-against-brett-kavanaugh/.