Kavanaugh committee report: No evidence
Takeaways from findings of GOP-controlled panel
The Republican-controlled Senate Judiciary Committee concluded there “was no evidence to substantiate any of the claims” of sexual misconduct leveled against Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh in a report released over the weekend.
Kavanaugh’s initial Senate hearings were contentious, with Democrats working to expose what they felt were his more extreme views and accusing Republicans of withholding relevant documents. But he seemed headed for certain confirmation when reports began to surface accusing the nominee of a decades-old sexual assault.
When psychology professor Christine Blasey Ford came forward publicly with her allegation, a furious national debate erupted. Already thunderous partisan divisions exploded and intertwined with the social upheaval of the #MeToo movement to create a storm of outrage across the political spectrum.
The furor persuaded Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, to hold another hearing in which Ford could share her allegation and Kavanaugh could respond. The Sept. 27 hearing and ensuing media circus captured national attention.
After Ford came forward, other accusations of misconduct against Kavanaugh began to surface, but their credibility appeared increasingly shaky.
“The revelation of last-minute allegations tested the committee in many ways. But these investigative efforts rose to the occasion and were critical to helping us obtain the truth,” Grassley said in a statement with the release
of the report. “In the end, there was no credible evidence to support the allegations against the nominee.”
After Kavanaugh was confirmed on Oct. 6, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell hailed the effort to stop Kavanaugh’s confirmation “certainly had a good impact” for Republicans ahead of the midterm elections and said because of the left’s tactics, “our base is fired up.”
Democrats also claimed Kavanaugh’s confirmation energized their supporters.
Now, a detailed look at the allegations and the committee’s investigation has landed just days ahead of the 2018 election to determine the next two years of congressional control.
Here are some highlights from the 414-page report, which included interviews with 45 people and 25 written statements.
Grassley learned of Ford’s identity from the Post
Ford sent a letter detailing her allegation against Kavanaugh to the highestranking Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, California Sen. Dianne Feinstein, on July 30.
According to the report, Feinstein kept the letter to herself until Sept. 12, when she shared it with other Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee. The Intercept reported on the letter’s existence the same say. On Sept. 14, a New Yorker article detailed Ford’s allegation but she remained anonymous, and on Sept. 16, Ford came forward publicly in a Washington Post article.
According to the report, Grassley did not learn of Ford’s identity until the Post article ran.
Ford ‘refused’ to hand over evidence
The committee said it collected 24 pages of evidence from Ford. That evidence consisted of her resume, her text messages with the Post, her letter to Feinstein, her communications with the Judiciary Committee, declarations from Ford’s husband and three friends that she had previously mentioned “an incident of sexual assault” and a summary of the results of a polygraph test.
The committee report said it requested the full polygraph test along with audio or video recordings of the exam, but Ford “refused” to give them to the committee along with the notes from a therapy session about a past sexual assault that she shared with reporters.
Ford polygraph exam consisted of two questions
According to the Judiciary Committee report, Ford and her attorney, Debra Katz, gave the polygraph examiner a written statement they had prepared. After an interview, the examiner then asked Ford two questions: “Is any part of your statement false?” and “Did you make up any part of your statement?”
“Dr. Ford answered no to both questions. The examiner concluded that the test results did not indicate deception,” the report said.
Witness said Mark Judge described group-sex encounter
Elizabeth Rasor said she dated Kavanaugh’s high-school friend Mark Judge, whom Ford said was present during her alleged assault, several years after the incident was said to take place.
Rasor said Judge told her, “in a voice that seemed to convey a degree of shame, about an incident that had occurred a few years prior, where he and several other boys from Georgetown Prep took turns having sex with a woman who was drunk.” Rasor said she couldn’t say whether Judge said Kavanaugh was present and that Judge described the incident as consensual.
‘No verifiable evidence’
The conclusion of the report’s sections on Ford’s allegation says, “Committee investigators found no verifiable evidence that supported Dr. Ford’s allegations against Justice Kavanaugh. The witnesses that Dr. Ford identified as individuals who could corroborate her allegations failed to do so, and in fact, contradicted her.”
More suspect allegations
There were more accusations the committee report found not to be credible. One accuser recanted his story almost as soon as it became public and the committee referred him to the FBI.
The second involved an anonymous letter that alleged Kavanaugh “very aggressively and sexually” pushed a woman he was dating against a wall. U.S. District Court Judge Dabney Friedrich, whom Kavanaugh dated at the time in question, called the story “offensive and absurd.”