US Politics Mega-thread - Page 699

On September 15 2018 07:00 hunts wrote:
Imagine if Obama had appointed someone to the supreme court who was found committing perjury multiple times, and was accused of rape, republicans would've lost their mind.

On September 15 2018 07:00 hunts wrote:
Imagine if Obama had appointed someone to the supreme court who was found committing perjury multiple times, and was accused of rape, republicans would've lost their mind.

On September 15 2018 07:05 Plansix wrote:
The part that troubles me most is that someone knew that these allegations existed(like the GOP), helped Kavanaugh get his ducks in a row to get through the allegations and then hoped that it would stay buried. They knew the alleged victim might write that letter and prepared for it, but never disclosed these charges might exist. Creditable charge or not, that is GROSS for a position that is this power and a life time appointment.

On September 15 2018 07:27 Doodsmack wrote:


Yeah the GOP had a letter from 65 of Kavanaugh's high school female classmates at the ready for when this story dropped. I wonder how the GOP knew in advance.

On September 15 2018 07:33 Plansix wrote:

And they claim that FBI provided them with that letter too. But the Democrats didn't know about it, I think? But the Democrats totally have access to the FBI file.

This whole process is just the opposite of transparency where information is being withheld for political gain. The Grassly called this a distraction while also dropping that letter tells us everything. They knew about it, didn't want the public to know, but were prepared to counter the argument. They are going to slam this guy through because they can an no one will stop them.

A group of women who have known Brett Kavanaugh since his high school days decided Thursday to put together the letter of support for him — a day after rumors of allegations against him first became public — one of the organizers of the letter told BuzzFeed News.

“We need to rally around Brett,” Meghan McCaleb, one of the signatories, said she told people of the effort to support President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee.

In an interview Friday, McCaleb said the letter-writing campaign began after her husband, Scott McCaleb, got a call from a reporter following initial reporting by the Intercept and BuzzFeed News about a secret letter containing an allegation against Kavanaugh.


Travis Lenkner, a former Kavanaugh clerk who has been helping support the judge during the confirmation process, confirmed to BuzzFeed News that the letter was started by a group of women who knew Kavanaugh in high school and then approached his team about it. Two other women who signed the letter also said they got it from friends.

On Friday morning, the New Yorker reported more details of the claims against Kavanaugh — alleging that he held down a woman and attempted to force himself on her at a party while they were both in high school.

McCaleb, who acknowledged that she is a close friend of Kavanaugh’s to this day and attended multiple days of his confirmation hearing, said the allegation is “really out of left field” and is “nothing like the Brett that we know. At all.”

When the initial reporting came out, she said, a “group effort” began to put together a letter supporting Kavanaugh and attesting that, “For the entire time we have known Brett Kavanaugh, he has behaved honorably and treated women with respect.”

Another of the signatories, reached by BuzzFeed News, said she was contacted Thursday by McCaleb about the possibility of signing on to a letter attesting to Kavanaugh’s character. Megan Williams told BuzzFeed News that she was not aware of specific allegations against Kavanaugh when she signed the letter, but said, “I can’t even tell you how out of character” that would be and made clear that she stood behind the letter. “The guy’s a saint.”

A third woman who signed the letter, Renate Dolphin, told BuzzFeed News she had received the letter Thursday night “from a friend of ours from high school years” and then hung up.

The letter in support of Kavanaugh, signed by 65 women, was released by Senate Judiciary Committee chair Chuck Grassley on Friday, shortly after the New Yorker story published. Grassley’s office had stated that he was not involved in its creation. “Chairman Grassley’s staff was not responsible for putting the letter together,” said Garrett Ventry, a communications adviser to the Senate Judiciary Committee. “We received it this morning.” BuzzFeed News made attempts on Friday to reach women who signed the letter.

McCaleb said the process of gathering the signatures was a quick one, and that women who had attended five different girls high schools in the area signed on to it. Kavanaugh attended an all-boys high school in Bethesda, Maryland.

McCaleb said that she then contacted Lenkner, who had helped her get access to Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearing last week, on figuring out how to submit the letter. For a Supreme Court nomination, those working with the nominee usually reach out to people who could speak on behalf of the person from different time periods in their life before the confirmation hearing.

The White House declined to comment on questions related to the letter supportinxg Kavanaugh.

Grassley’s office said Friday, after the New Yorker published a report on the allegations of sexual misconduct, that Kavanaugh’s nomination will proceed as planned next week.

On September 15 2018 06:58 Gorsameth wrote:
Why wait?
Because your appointing someone for live to the most important judicial position?

This is not shit that you can fudge and sort out later. You get it right or you don't do it, or atleast that's how it used to work before Republicans went all 'victory at any price, party over country'.

On September 15 2018 07:27 Doodsmack wrote:


Yeah the GOP had a letter from 65 of Kavanaugh's high school female classmates at the ready for when this story dropped. I wonder how the GOP knew in advance.

On September 16 2018 08:04 Plansix wrote:
I couldn’t name 65 women I went to high school with, let alone get them to sign a letter in under 24 hours.

The Kavanaugh classmate quoted in the New Yorker is Mark Judge, a writer in Washington, D.C. Judge spoke to THE WEEKLY STANDARD Friday afternoon, strongly denying that any such incident ever occurred. "It's just absolutely nuts. I never saw Brett act that way," Judge told TWS.

Judge says he first learned he was named in the letter during an interview with the New Yorker. "[Ronan Farrow] said: As you know, you're named in the letter. And I did not know," he said.

The Kavanaugh classmate told TWS that the New Yorker did not provide him the name of the woman alleging wrongdoing, a specific date of the alleged incident, or the location where the incident is alleged to have occurred. The woman alleging misconduct has requested that her identity be protected, according to media reports.

After Judge categorically denied ever witnessing an attempted assault by Kavanaugh, I asked him if he could recall any sort of rough-housing with a female student back in high school (an incident that might have been interpreted differently by parties involved). "I can't. I can recall a lot of rough-housing with guys. It was an all-boys school, we would rough-house with each other," he said said. "I don't remember any of that stuff going on with girls."

Judge says he still does not know the name of the woman who made the allegations.