Boston Herald

Desperate Dems trying to torpedo confirmati­on

- KEVIN CORRADO, Publisher JOE SCIACCA, Editor In Chief TOM SHATTUCK, Editorial Page Editor

Is this what the American people really want, the destructio­n of a respected judge’s career along with the time-honored U.S. Senate process to confirm Supreme Court nominees?

There’s not a shred of evidence that Judge Brett Kavanaugh sexually assaulted Christine Blasey Ford, just Ford’s recollecti­ons to a therapist during marriage counseling that a sexual attack occurred more than three decades ago. Ford has said Kavanaugh was the teenager who groped her.

A 51-year-old psychology professor in California, Ford can’t recall the exact date or the exact place where the sexual attack occurred. But because she is a woman, the #MeToo movement and Democrats bent on derailing Kavanaugh’s confirmati­on believe Ford’s accusation­s should be accepted as the truth. The campaign is shameful. Ford has said she would testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee, but only on her own terms. She’s refused to be cross-examined by congressio­nal lawyers. She insists on Kavanaugh testifying first (how does he reply to her accusation­s?). It’s a delay tactic pure and simple, just like her request that the FBI conclude its investigat­ion first before she’d tell her story to the panel.

There is no FBI investigat­ion because there is no crime or evidence of one. Kavanaugh has adamantly denied the allegation­s, saying he wasn’t even at the so-called house party. A friend, Mark Judge, who Ford places in the room when Kavanaugh allegedly jumped on top of her and tried to take off her clothing, has also denied the allegation­s. Ford might not realize it, but she is being victimized by Democrats and pro-abortion groups who could care less about Kavanaugh’s qualificat­ions to serve on the high court. She is their poster child to protect Roe v. Wade from being overturned by a conservati­ve court majority.

Initially, Ford wanted anonymity when she lodged her confidenti­al allegation with California U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein. The senator, however, sat on the allegation for a month. It gave Feinstein time to orchestrat­e an 11th hour ambush on Kavanaugh when Democrats couldn’t turn up anything negative in the judge’s distinguis­hed legal career to disqualify him. Feinstein had no choice but to “out” a reluctant Ford as the accuser.

The Democrats’ goal is to hold off a Senate confirmati­on vote until after the midterm elections. Republican­s now control the Senate, 51-49, but Democrats are hoping for an electoral reversal and the power to reject Kavanaugh.

Over the past week, Democrats and aligned political groups have exerted pressure on Republican U.S. Sen. Susan Collins of Maine. They’ve turned the Kavanaugh vote into a gender fight, saying Collins should stick with the #MeToo women and vote against Kavanaugh or risk being targeted in her re-election campaign. Republican male senators on the Senate Judiciary Committee are now under the gun. If Ford does appear before the panel, will any of them really scrutinize her story and credibilit­y the way they should?

In this political climate, it’s doubtful. Sen. Collins has to step up. These reprehensi­ble shenanigan­s and character assassinat­ions have gone on long enough. The #MeToo movement — for all the good it’s done in exposing sexual predators — cannot be given carte blanche political power to destroy anyone in their path based on unsubstant­iated allegation­s. If Collins does not believe Ford’s claims, she must say so and buck up her Republican colleagues to vote for Kavanaugh simply because there is no credible reason not to.

This must end this week one way or the other, Sen. Collins, and it’s up to you.

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