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Everything on Brett Kavanaugh and the F.B.I. Investigation
Everything on Brett Kavanaugh and the F.B.I. Investigation
(about 5 hours later)
Updated Oct. 4
Updated Oct. 4
The fate of Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh, President Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, remained uncertain as the results of an F.B.I. investigation into sexual misconduct allegations against him are considered by the Senate.
The bitter fight over President Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh, may be nearing an end, with Republicans increasingly confident that he will be confirmed despite facing allegations of sexual assault and misconduct. (Follow our latest updates here.)
Around 2:30 a.m., the White House said in a statement it had received the F.B.I.’s investigation, which was “being transmitted to the Senate” as well. The statement expressed confidence the completed inquiry would not stand in the way of Judge Kavanaugh’s confirmation. On Wednesday, Senator Mitch McConnell set up a key test vote for Friday, shortly after a floor speech in which his anger spilled out.
The confirmation has dominated headlines for weeks, inspiring protests and encouraging women to tell their own, sometimes harrowing, stories of rape, assault and harassment.
On Wednesday, some Senate Republicans were stepping up their efforts to challenge the credibility of Christine Blasey Ford, one of the several women who have accused Judge Kavanaugh of sexual assault or misconduct decades ago. The president abandoned his initial restraint on Tuesday and mocked Dr. Blasey, a risky strategy considering his need to win over three influential Republicans who condemned his remarks.
Here’s a guide to coverage of the confirmation from The New York Times.
Last week, the Senate Judiciary Committee — and the nation — heard emotional and contradicting accounts from Judge Kavanaugh and Dr. Blasey. Judge Kavanaugh, who adamantly denied the women’s claims, at times offered responses that were misleading, disputed or off point, our fact-check found. And those responses have also raised new questions about his truthfulness, his partisanship and his temperament.
Here’s a guide to the latest coverage from The New York Times.
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Mr. Trump ordered the F.B.I. investigation on Friday after Senator Jeff Flake, a key Republican swing vote on the nomination, insisted that the allegations be examined before he would commit to voting to confirm Judge Kavanaugh on the floor. Read about the 24 hours last week that caused Mr. Flake to delay the final vote.
The White House said on Thursday that the F.B.I. had completed its latest investigation into Judge Kavanaugh, with Republicans determined to proceed with an initial Senate vote on Friday and a final vote as soon as Saturday.
(Video footage went viral of two angry and tearful women confronting him on Friday in a Senate elevator; they accused him of telling women that “assault doesn’t matter.” Watch the encounter here.)
For some time, the confirmation has depended on the votes of a handful of senators. Two Republicans, Senators Jeff Flake and Susan Collins, signaled on Thursday that they were satisfied with the investigation. Read what senators on the left and the right have said about the F.B.I.’s findings.
Initially, F.B.I. agents were asked to talk to only four witnesses, which they did. They included Mark Judge, one of Judge Kavanaugh’s high school friends who two of the accusers say was present at the time that alleged misconduct took place. (Here’s what we know about him.)
It was ordered last week by Mr. Trump following a request from Mr. Flake. Read about the tumultuous 24 hours that caused Mr. Flake to delay the initial vote.
The other three witnesses were Leland Keyser, who Dr. Blasey said attended the high school gathering where Dr. Blasey said she was sexually assaulted; P. J. Smyth, another guest; and Deborah Ramirez, one of the other women who has accused the judge of misconduct, this time at a Yale party. A backlash from Democrats over the limited scope of the investigation followed.
Democrats had criticized the investigation for omitting interviews with key witnesses and challenged its legitimacy on Thursday. While the White House ultimately authorized the F.B.I. to interview anyone it deemed necessary, five former Yale classmates of Judge Kavanaugh had told The Times that they had tried to offer information to the agency without success.
On Monday, two people briefed on the matter said that the White House had authorized the F.B.I. to expand its investigation by interviewing anyone it deems necessary. Five former Yale classmates of Judge Kavanaugh told The Times that they had tried to offer information to the F.B.I., without success. (Here’s a list of who the F.B.I. has interviewed and who it has not.)
Here is a list of who the F.B.I. has and has not interviewed and here are some inconsistencies between Christine Blasey Ford’s and Judge Kavanaugh’s accounts.
Here are three inconsistencies between Dr. Blasey’s and Judge Kavanaugh’s testimonies that the F.B.I. could address.
Mr. Flake said on Monday that he was doing everything in his power to “make sure that any current, credible allegation that has been made is fully investigated.” Provided the new investigation doesn’t turn up damaging information, the inquiry could ultimately make it easier for uncertain Republicans to back Judge Kavanaugh, our chief Washington correspondent writes.
Mr. Trump said on Monday he had no issue with the bureau questioning Judge Kavanaugh or Julie Swetnick, the third woman to accuse the nominee.
As of right now, the confirmation vote comes down to five senators who remain undecided: three Republicans, none of whom are facing re-election this year, and two Democrats, both of whom are.
Also on Monday, a newly unearthed police report revealed that as an undergraduate student at Yale, Judge Kavanaugh was involved in an altercation at a bar. He was accused of throwing ice on another patron during the altercation, the police report said. Debate erupted about whether the fight was a red flag — or an American rite of passage.
There has also been renewed attention in a statement from the American Bar Association in 2006, in which the group revised its rating of him as he prepared for his second confirmation hearing for a federal appeals court judgeship. The statement, the group said, was prompted by concerns about his demeanor and veracity.
[Make sense of the people, issues and ideas shaping the 2018 elections with our new politics newsletter.]
[Make sense of the people, issues and ideas shaping the 2018 elections with our new politics newsletter.]
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A lot happened last week. Dr. Blasey, a university professor and research psychologist, was joined by Ms. Ramirez and Ms. Swetnick in public accusations against Judge Kavanaugh.
Three women have publicly accused Judge Kavanaugh of sexual assault or misconduct, including Dr. Blasey, who was the first to come forward.
Ms. Ramirez, who works for a county housing department in Colorado and sits on a domestic violence group’s board, accused Judge Kavanaugh of exposing himself to her at a drunken college party. (Here’s our profile of her.)
During a Senate hearing last week, Dr. Blasey, a university professor and research psychologist, described a chilling scene at a high school gathering more than 30 years ago, when, she said, a young, drunken Mr. Kavanaugh pinned her to a bed, tried to rip off her clothes and placed his hand over her mouth to muffle her screams for help. (Here’s our profile of her.)
Ms. Swetnick, who has held a variety of public-and private-sector jobs, said that Judge Kavanaugh was “present” when she was raped at a high school party. We debunk five viral rumors about the accusers here.
Ms. Ramirez, who works for a county housing department in Colorado, accused Mr. Kavanaugh of exposing himself to her at a drunken college party. (Here’s our profile of her.)
Read our stories on a culture of heavy drinking that emerges as a common theme among the accusations, including the article that focuses on references in Judge Kavanaugh’s high school yearbook to a female student at a nearby school.
The third woman, Julie Swetnick, who has held a variety of public-and private-sector jobs, said that Mr. Kavanaugh was “present” when she was raped at a high school party. We debunk five viral rumors about the accusers here.
The Times also reviewed a 1983 letter written by Judge Kavanaugh to his friends when he organized a stay for “Beach Week” at a beachfront condo. In a postscript, he wrote that whoever arrived first should “warn the neighbors that we’re loud, obnoxious drunks with prolific pukers among us.”
The allegations have raised a number of questions about Judge Kavanaugh, including his drinking; references to a woman in his high school yearbook; a letter he wrote to friends ahead of a week at the beach in college; and his involvement in a bar fight years ago.
Americans were transfixed by the hearing on Thursday. There, Dr. Blasey described the terror she felt more than 30 years ago when, she said, a drunken teenage Mr. Kavanaugh pinned her on a bed, tried to rip her clothes off and clapped his hand over her mouth as she pleaded for help.
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At the hearing, Dr. Blasey came across as an Everywoman, our reporters wrote — an Everywoman with a Ph.D. Her testimony was also a stark reminder of gender dynamics and of the mental gymnastics required of women who speak up. (Read our profile of her.)
As the accusations emerged, survivors of abuse have shared their stories. Many rallied around a new hashtag, #WhyIDidntReport, which highlights why women often hesitate to share stories of harassment or abuse.
In response, Judge Kavanaugh delivered a blistering defense, denouncing a partisan “frenzy” bent on destroying his nomination.
Some of the women who have publicly revealed stories of assault in recent days include Connie Chung, the longtime television news anchor; Patti Davis, the author and daughter of President Ronald Reagan; and Padma Lakshmi, the television host and A.C.L.U. ambassador for immigration and women’s rights.
The contrast was stark. We heard from dozens of readers who identified themselves as trauma victims and said they struggled with their own memories. The accusations have rallied survivors of abuse around a new hashtag, #WhyIDidntReport, which highlights the difficulties, fear, anger and shame that so often surround sexual harassment and assault.
Americans were transfixed when Dr. Blasey and Judge Kavanaugh offered contrasting stories at the hearing last week.
For many conservatives, especially white men, Judge Kavanaugh’s fury joined a rallying cry led by Mr. Trump against a liberal order.
Dr. Blasey’s understated testimony served as a stark reminder of gender dynamics and of the mental gymnastics required of women who speak up. Judge Kavanaugh’s was a blistering defense, in which he denounced a partisan “frenzy” bent on destroying his nomination.
On Tuesday, Mr. Trump once again waded into the #MeToo debate when he mocked Dr. Blasey at a campaign rally and separately said it is a “very scary time for young men in America” because the rise of sexual misconduct allegations has eroded traditional due process.
That fury borrowed from Mr. Trump’s playbook on white male anger. On Tuesday, the president mocked Dr. Blasey at a campaign rally and separately said it was a “very scary time for young men in America” because of what he described as an erosion of due process when it comes to sexual misconduct claims. Republicans launched a new attack on Dr. Blasey’s credibility.
The stakes are high, with some Democrats hoping that a derailment of Judge Kavanaugh’s confirmation could buy them time to win back the Senate in the November midterm elections and, consequently, gain control over the confirmation of Mr. Trump’s next nominee.
More than 1,700 law professors have signed onto a letter opposing the nomination, because of Judge Kavanaugh’s performance at the hearing, which also brought renewed attention to a 2006 statement from the American Bar Association raising concerns about his demeanor and veracity.
But Republicans believe the fight will help them in tight Senate races — at the likely cost of losing control of the House.
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Many see parallels with Anita Hill, who accused Judge Clarence Thomas of sexual harassment during his Supreme Court confirmation process more than a quarter-century ago before he was ultimately confirmed.
Many see parallels with Anita Hill, who accused Judge Clarence Thomas of sexual harassment during his Supreme Court confirmation process more than a quarter-century ago before he was ultimately confirmed.
Read more about Ms. Hill’s testimony and listen to The Daily’s episode revisiting it. Ms. Hill, now a professor at Brandeis University, weighed in herself, writing that, this time around, the Senate Judiciary Committee can “do better.”
Read more about Ms. Hill’s testimony and listen to The Daily’s episode revisiting it. Ms. Hill, now a professor at Brandeis University, weighed in herself, writing that, this time around, the Senate Judiciary Committee can “do better.”
On Friday, Ms. Hill said that she tried to keep an open mind while watching Dr. Blasey and Judge Kavanaugh at the hearing, “but at the end of the day, I certainly believed her.”
On Friday, Ms. Hill said that she tried to keep an open mind while watching Dr. Blasey and Judge Kavanaugh at the hearing, “but at the end of the day, I certainly believed her.”
