Kavanaugh abandons script to deliver blistering opening statement on assault accusation
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
A visibly emotional Judge Brett Kavanaugh abandoned his prepared script and delivered a blistering opening statement denying the allegations of sexual assault leveled against him by Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, calling it a “calculated and orchestrated political hit.”
In his sometimes tearful delivery, Kavanaugh, with his wife, Ashley, family and friends behind him, immediately denied Ford’s allegation that 36-years ago he pinned her down and attempted to remove her clothing.
“I will not be intimidated by withdrawing from this process. Your coordinated and well-funded effort to destroy my good name and destroy my family will not drive me out,” Kavanaugh said. “You may defeat me in the final vote, but you’ll never get me to quit. Ever.”
He also detailed the “10 long days” between when Ford first publicly made the accusation and Thursday’s hearing.
“In those 10 long days, as was predictable and I predicted, my family and my name have been totally and permanently destroyed,” Kavanaugh said. “The 10-day delay has been harmful to me and my family, to the Supreme Court, and to the country.”
Kavanaugh said he welcomed “any kind of investigation.”
“Senate, FBI, or otherwise. The committee has now conducted a thorough investigation,” Kavanaugh said. “I know any kind of investigation—Senate, FBI, Montgomery County Police—will clear me.”
He added: “Listen to the people I’ve grown up with and played with and coached with and dated and had beers with and listen to the witnesses who allegedly were at this event.”
“This confirmation process has become a national disgrace,” Kavanaugh said, detailing the derogatory words used to describe him in recent days, such as “evil” and someone who would “threaten the lives of millions of Americans for decades to come.”
“I understand the passions of the moment, but I would say to senators, your words have meaning. Millions of Americans listened carefully to you. Given comments like those, it isn’t any surprise that people are willing to do anything to make any physical threat against my family, or send any violent email to my wife.”
In a passionate and tearful delivery, Kavanaugh said: “This has destroyed my family and my good name. A good name built up through decades of very hard work.”
“This whole two-week effort has been a calculated and orchestrated political hit,” Kavanaugh said. “This grotesque and coordinated character assassination will dissuade good people from serving our country.”
Kavanaugh denied Ford’s allegations, repeatedly, throughout his statement.
“I’m here to tell the truth. I’ve never sexually assaulted anyone. Not in high school. Not in college. Not ever. Sexual assault is horrific,” Kavanaugh said. “Allegations of sexual assault must always be taken seriously, those who make allegations must always be heard. At the same time, the person who is the subject of those allegations must also be heard. Due process means listening to both sides.”
Kavanaugh also defended his record, as being in “high-profile” public service roles for more than 20 years.
“No one ever accused me of any kind of sexual misconduct. No one. Ever. A lifetime of high profile of public service at the highest levels of American government,” Kavanaugh said. “Never a hint of anything of this kind and that’s because nothing of this kind ever happened.”
Kavanaugh detailed his, and his father’s, practice of keeping detailed calendars that serve as both calendars and “diaries.”
Kavanaugh also said he did not doubt that Ford experienced some sort of sexual assault, but maintained that it was not him.
“I am not questioning that Dr. Ford was sexually assaulted. But I have never done this to her or to anyone. It’s not who I am. It is not who I was,” Kavanaugh said. “I am innocent of this charge. I intend no ill will to Dr. Ford or her family.”
Kavanaugh, in tears, said that his daughters even were praying “for the woman.” Kavanaugh praised his wife, Ashley, whom he said “has been a rock.”
“I thank God every day for Ashley and my family. We live in a country devoted to due process and the rule of law. That means taking allegations seriously. But if the mere allegation, mere assertion of an allegation, a refuted allegation from 36 years ago is enough to destroy a person’s life and career, we have abandoned the due process that defines our legal system in our country,” Kavanaugh said.
“I ask you to judge me by the standard you would want applied to your father, your husband, your brother or your son,” Kavanaugh said. “My family and I intend no ill will toward Dr. Ford or her family, but I swear today, under oath, before the Senate and the nation, before my family, and God, I am innocent of this charge.”
Brooke Singman is a Politics Reporter for Fox News. Follow her on Twitter at @brookefoxnews .
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And Boy! Did he fuck that up!
This hearing went down the tubes for the Republicans in a bad way.
This is such a good week for Democrats. Kavanaugh hangs himself by proving his bias. His credibility shot in the foot was self inflicted, and the Republicans look like weasels for trying to hide behind a hired female gun.
The U.N. screw-up and the following stupidity by Trump just paved the way for the houses to be taken.
Well done Republicans/right wingers you stepped right in to the traps...again....oh, and soooo close to the mid-terms too. How sad.
Kavvy boy's a psycho and a lying piece of shit. Hopefully he won't be able to be a judge at all when all is said and done. He COULD, however, be a Republican presidential candidate.
Kavanaugh did not abandon 'the script.' His portion of the hearing was carefully and successfully choreographed. Dumping the Arizona prosecutor was perfectly executed, thusly allowing the GOP senators on the Judicial Panel to express their true feelings and fealty to Trump. The GOP won this one. Or----did they?
I'd say that Kavanaugh tried to rape the wrong girl, but in fairness to him how was he supposed to know that his victim would get a PhD in psychology and conduct research on the PTSD of sex assault survivors?
Not sure about rape as much as I sense a degree of 'upper class white privilege' in these young men's attitudes and actions toward those they deem 'below their status.'
Definitely a sense of privilege, but check out this article about the rape culture at DC prep schools back then (I seeded it too):
The American Bar Association has just asked the judiciary comm. to halt the nomination until an investigation can be completed.
Unfortunately, lying under oath has become in vogue. Senator Graham recently stated that lying to the congress wasn't a big issue.
Kavanaugh has thus far indicated he would not testify to the FBI.
Trump has placed Christopher Wray in an awkward position. Soon we will see if the president has attained the powers he believes he has.
I also suspect Kavanaugh's testimony on Thursday was directed by the WH. And Senator Graham was acting on cue. I believe all of this was staged.
I think the same thing. Graham blew his top, (and made an ass of himself), as you put it, on cue. There are a few news outlets that totally agree with you.
I thought Jason Richwine put it nicely:
Over the past two weeks, Brett Kavanaugh has been subjected to the worst character assassination I have ever witnessed — and, trust me, that’s saying something. That’s why the decision made by Republicans to avoid a serious cross-examination of Christina Ford was so troubling. Had the hearing ended with the first session, subjective impressions of Ford’s sincerity may have triumphed over the actual facts and evidence.
But Kavanaugh in his opening statement did what Republican senators up to that point had failed to do. He laid out the entire case for his defense in a clear and accessible way. Though tinged by justifiable emotion, he grounded himself in the evidence. He repeatedly noted that the people whom Ford placed at the party, including a female friend of hers, could not recall any such party. That fact, which in a rational world would have ended the matter before the hearing was even held, needed to be stated repeatedly. Kavanaugh recognized that, even if his Republican allies in the room did not.
As a numbers geek, I don’t usually write about issues of pure politics. But I wanted to express my gratitude to Brett Kavanaugh for being a fighter. Lesser men would have shied away, and, sadly, bravery is not something that the Republican establishment is known for. With the force of his arguments, Brett Kavanaugh may have changed that. We should all follow his example.
It certainly exposed the excessive privilege of angry white guys. Good to see that's coming to an end.
Tough shit. He's subjected at least three women to decades of nightmares. If his only "punishment" is that he won't be given a life-time seat on the top court in the country, for which he has now shown himself to be morally and tempermentally unfit in the extreme, he should count his blessings. He deserves a good horse-whipping.