Several days ago Republican Senator Lindsey Graham tweeted:
“It is imperative the Judiciary committee move forward on the Kavanaugh nomination and a committee vote be taken ASAP.â€
It is imperative the Judiciary committee move forward on the Kavanaugh nomination and a committee vote be taken ASAP.
— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) September 19, 2018
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Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley has also been pushing hard for the past week to get a fast committee vote.
Then last night the New Yorker Magazine reported that a second woman had come forward with sexual misconduct allegations against Kavanaugh.
According to The Washington Post:
“The New Yorker article offers disturbing details about the alleged event at Yale, and about the alcohol-soaked backdrop of Ivy League and prep-school party culture when Kavanaugh was a student in the 1980s.”
“But tucked into the article is one particularly appalling revelation that speaks less to the character of the Supreme Court nominee himself than to that of the Republicans who continued to press his case: “The offices of at least four Democratic senators have received information about the allegation, and at least two have begun investigating it.â€
“Senior Republican staffers also learned of the allegation last week and, in conversations with The New Yorker, expressed concern about its potential impact on Kavanaugh’s nomination.â€
“Soon after, Senate Republicans issued renewed calls to accelerate the timing of a committee vote.â€
So Grassley and GOP committee staffers knew about Ramirez‘s accusation as they tried to push Kavanaugh‘s confirmation process forward last week.
Graham knew about it when he tweeted that it was imperative that a vote on Kavanaugh be taken ASAP.
Grassley, Graham and other Republican leaders were in a big hurry because they wanted to ram through a confirmation vote before any new Kavanaugh allegations were brought to light. They knew about the allegations but tried to keep them secret.
Republicans have expressed concern about the potential impact of sexual assault allegations on Kavanaugh’s nomination. They have been worried about whether the allegations would hamper their ability to install a right-wing judge in a lifelong appointment.
Now we know that Republicans care nothing about discovering the truth of the allegations against Kavanaugh.
They care nothing about the character and honesty of someone they appoint to the Supreme Court.
Now we know that Republicans care only about furthering their own partisan policy goals and putting right-wing ideologues in a position to affect the rights of all Americans for decades to come.
We also know that Republicans don’t care about the impact of Kavanaugh’s actions on his female accusers. They don’t care at all about the millions of women who have suffered sexual assaults at the hands of men like Kavanaugh.
The events of the past week have shed light on the true nature of the Republican Party, and it is a horrible sight to see. The GOP is a party with no character, and with no soul.
But one big question remains: Did all Republican senators know about Ramirez last week, or did Grassley and others try to keep this information from members of their own party, such as Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, Jeff Flake and Bob Corker?
These four GOP Senators are thought to be undecided on Kavanaugh and they all said they wanted to hear Dr. Ford’s testimony.
If they knew about the Deborah Ramirez accusations and conspired to bury them that would be good to know.
However if Grassley and other GOP Senate leaders were keeping the Ramirez accusations from these four possible swing votes that is an entirely different situation.
As Washington, D.C. wakes to another Monday morning there are many disturbing allegations and many unanswered questions in the ongoing saga of Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court.
And with just six weeks until election day, how these questions are answered may decide the fate of our country for years to come.
I am a lifelong Democrat with a passion for social justice and progressive issues. I have degrees in writing, economics and law from the University of Iowa.
