FBI Begins Scope into Supreme Court Justice Nominee Kavanaugh
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| Erin Schaff, The New York Times |
Following the hearing of Professor Christine Blasey Ford of Palo Alto University and Supreme Court Justice Nominee Brett Kavanaugh in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday, it appeared as though Kavanaugh had secured the nomination with the vote to be held Friday morning. However, later on Friday afternoon GOP Senator Jeff Flake from Arizona withdrew his approval and asked for an FBI investigation into the sexual assault allegations against Kavanaugh.
Given complaints from the Republican Party that the Democrats have been attempting to delay or slow the nomination process, there does not appear to be any political reason for Senator Flake to have supported an investigation. The Senator from Arizona cited the disconnect between parties as concerning, and he felt as though the investigation could help bring some unity to the discussion as opposed to the current status quo with Democrats absolutely against Kavanaugh while the Republicans support him unwaveringly. As he states, "[The Senate's] coming apart at the seams. There's no currency, no market for reaching across the aisle. It just makes it so difficult"(The Atlantic). Of course, there cannot be mention of Senator Flake's change of mind without reference to this impassioned confrontation at an elevator, in which two women Ana Maria Archila and Maria Gallagher lit into the Senator for his decision to support Kavanaugh. Although Senator Flake mentions "everything" as a reason for his sudden change, but I would definitely venture to say that that encounter played a major role.
I certainly support the notion of having an investigation. For the reasons Senator Jeff Flake states, I believe it could go a long way into helping both parties be satisfied with the outcome. Even if nothing comes out of it, at least having an investigation could help Democrats be more accepting of Kavanaugh because their concerns were given a platform and considered. If Kavanaugh is found guilty, then it would help Republicans realize that 1) the accusations were not merely a smear campaign and 2) there would be serious repercussions for confirming him as a Justice. Because this investigation was based upon the allegations brought by Christine Blasey Ford, I'm not quite sure what will happen to the other two cases if this one results in no conviction. Although I hope the other two women would be given a fair opportunity to demonstrate the crimes done to them, I find it unlikely that Republicans will allow for another delay to the nomination.
Update:
Although President Trump initially tweeted out criticism for Democrats pushing against the limited scope of the investigation, it appears the White House has in fact cleared the FBI to perform a more thorough an investigation. The major change has been on the interviewable people as well as a haphazard investigation into Kavanaugh's drinking history. Originally, the probe did limit the potential interviewees to just the four people involved in this specific accusation, but now has been expanded to allow for the other accusers to corroborate stories. Furthermore, Kavanaugh's drinking history at Yale versus his representation of it may come into question, although as a result of the intertwined nature of drinking and sexual assault in Ford's case. Perhaps if not enough evidence was present from Ford's case alone, this expansion could shed new light on Kavanaugh's behavior with women and when drunk in general that could make Ford's story more believable.
Sources:
https://www.cnn.com/2018/09/28/politics/anderson-cooper-flake-protester-cnntv/index.html
https://www.cnn.com/2018/09/30/politics/fbi-brett-kavanaugh-investigation/index.html
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/onpolitics/2018/09/24/brett-kavanaugh-allegations-timeline-supreme-court/1408073002/
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/09/flake-kavanaugh-interview/571735/
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/national/wp/2018/09/27/kavanaugh-hearing-transcript/?utm_term=.110ec28177df
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/supreme-court/white-house-authorizes-fbi-expand-probe-kavanaugh-n915581
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-adds-to-confusion-over-scope-of-fbi-investigation-of-kavanaugh-accusations/2018/10/01/1aa5e922-c561-11e8-b1ed-1d2d65b86d0c_story.html?utm_term=.86bf1bc3e0e1
I certainly support the notion of having an investigation. For the reasons Senator Jeff Flake states, I believe it could go a long way into helping both parties be satisfied with the outcome. Even if nothing comes out of it, at least having an investigation could help Democrats be more accepting of Kavanaugh because their concerns were given a platform and considered. If Kavanaugh is found guilty, then it would help Republicans realize that 1) the accusations were not merely a smear campaign and 2) there would be serious repercussions for confirming him as a Justice. Because this investigation was based upon the allegations brought by Christine Blasey Ford, I'm not quite sure what will happen to the other two cases if this one results in no conviction. Although I hope the other two women would be given a fair opportunity to demonstrate the crimes done to them, I find it unlikely that Republicans will allow for another delay to the nomination.
Update:
Although President Trump initially tweeted out criticism for Democrats pushing against the limited scope of the investigation, it appears the White House has in fact cleared the FBI to perform a more thorough an investigation. The major change has been on the interviewable people as well as a haphazard investigation into Kavanaugh's drinking history. Originally, the probe did limit the potential interviewees to just the four people involved in this specific accusation, but now has been expanded to allow for the other accusers to corroborate stories. Furthermore, Kavanaugh's drinking history at Yale versus his representation of it may come into question, although as a result of the intertwined nature of drinking and sexual assault in Ford's case. Perhaps if not enough evidence was present from Ford's case alone, this expansion could shed new light on Kavanaugh's behavior with women and when drunk in general that could make Ford's story more believable.
Sources:
https://www.cnn.com/2018/09/28/politics/anderson-cooper-flake-protester-cnntv/index.html
https://www.cnn.com/2018/09/30/politics/fbi-brett-kavanaugh-investigation/index.html
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/onpolitics/2018/09/24/brett-kavanaugh-allegations-timeline-supreme-court/1408073002/
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/09/flake-kavanaugh-interview/571735/
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/national/wp/2018/09/27/kavanaugh-hearing-transcript/?utm_term=.110ec28177df
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/supreme-court/white-house-authorizes-fbi-expand-probe-kavanaugh-n915581
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-adds-to-confusion-over-scope-of-fbi-investigation-of-kavanaugh-accusations/2018/10/01/1aa5e922-c561-11e8-b1ed-1d2d65b86d0c_story.html?utm_term=.86bf1bc3e0e1
3 comments:
Although the FBI investigation will likely find no concrete evidence of abuse as it has been decades since the incident, it is interesting to see the reaction of the Senate to potential falsehoods in Kavanaugh's testimony. There is still a chance that the investigation concludes that the assault did happen and the confirmation would be derailed immediately, but I think if the investigation does turn out to be inconclusive, these small falsehoods could be brought up to debate by the democrats. However, Kavanaugh will still likely be confirmed despite accusations of perjury - republicans will find themselves on very stable ground in that they would have accepted demands and even had an investigation in which there was no evidence against the nominee. This investigation is a very necessary process, but if it does not come up with clear answers, it will settle some, but not all, scores in the Senate. Jeff flake might have sprouted all the right intentions now that he doesn't care about re-election, but the sad state of this ordeal is that if Kavanaugh gets confirmed, democrats will find an untouched concern about his character and his extreme views, and if he gets denied, republicans will find it to be an act of political espionage.
I agree with Max's comment that within this short timespan, it's quite unlikely that concrete evidence against Kavanaugh can be found against him, especially since the alleged event occurred decades ago. It seems to me the FBI investigation is more of a strategic move more than anything else. For the Democrats, the investigation delays the nomination, and for the Republicans, the investigation is like a double-edged sword -- if the results, indeed, turn out to be inconclusive, they can gain some leverage in accusing the Democrats of conducting a "smear campaign." I don't think I have the political expertise to have a definite prediction as to what's going to happen, and like everyone else, I'm waiting to see what's going to happen.
Well, the investigation has come and gone, and despite some late drama with Flake, Murkowski, Collins, and Manchin, Kavanaugh was confirmed. I think what's interesting about this case is that its course, including the FBI investigation, did not alter from what could have been predicted weeks ago. Kavanaugh would have multiple accusers, the hearing would be deemed as a win for Kavanaugh on one side and a win for Ford on the other, there would be protests and counterprotests, vitriol would come from all directions, but ultimately, the Republican majority would hold up, and Kavanaugh would become the 9th Supreme Court justice. The scope of the investigation almost doomed it from the start and it proved not to matter much at the end of the day, reinforcing the importance of, as 538 puts it, the "fundamentals:" it's close to an election cycle and there are more Republicans than Democrats in the Senate. This all reinforces the importance of elections; they are the main deciding factor in policy and the direction of the country.
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