Except for a 45 minute meeting I had at noon, I spent the entire day watching the Senate Judicial Committee Hearing with Dr. Ford and Judge Cavanaugh. The hearing was powerful. Dr. Ford was for the most part credible. Her testimony was obviously heartfelt and believable. So too was Judge Cavanaugh’s testimony, even though his was in direct conflict with hers. In the end, the real story was not finding out who is right and who is wrong, but to what depths Democrats will go to destroy any conservative SCOTUS candidate.
The agenda was set as giving Dr. Ford unlimited time for opening remarks. Afterwards, each panel member was given 5 minutes to ask their questions. The questioners rocked back and forth, with every other questioner being of the opposing party. The same procedure was used with Judge Cavanaugh.
Rachael Mitchell was picked to cross-examine Dr. Ford by Republican panel members waiving their time to her, mostly to eliminate the initial objection by the Democrat panel members that said it was unfair for “old white men” to be asking the questions. The Democrats also objected to this tactic, indicating that in their minds, using a professional prosecutor was also unfair. Ms. Mitchell was very kind in her questioning, kept the questions relatively narrow, and used most of her 5 minute sessions to ferret out the truth. When she got close to some sore spots, Dr. Ford’s attorneys jumped in to shield her.
The Democrats used most of their 5 minutes each to give speeches about how brave, how patriotic, and how honorable Dr. Ford has been. They dumped countless praise on her. The few questions that were asked by them were of the “softball” variety. In contrast, Rachael Mitchell methodically asked her questions, eventually leading to gaps and some interesting discovery in Dr. Ford’s story.
Rachael Mitchell found out that Dr. Ford allegedly did not know that the Judicial Committee was willing to fly out to California to depose her at her home. According to her she knew nothing of the offer, either through contact with the committee, through her lawyers, or even through the news. Hard to believe because every news station did cover that as an offer to her when they were told that she could not fly because of her PTSD from the alleged attempted rape. Also, it came out that she actually flies all the time, and actually is a world traveler, going to Europe, Hawaii, Central and South America, among some of the places she has visited in the last few years. We also found out that she had flown out to the East Coast to attend her grandmothers funeral, visiting relatives, and interviewing lawyers. The contention that she could not fly was obviously a lie.
In discovery we also found out that she is not paying for her legal defense, or her polygraph test. The legal firm was a recommendation by Dianne Feinstein’s office, during a period when supposedly her letter defining her account of the alleged crime was to be held as confidential. Subsequently, the letter, or a verbal version of it was leaked, possibly by her lawyers, or Dianne Feinstein’s office, or the office of her local Congressman, who she originally gave the letter to.
Rachael Mitchell finished her cross asking Dr. Ford a few interesting questions. First, she had her acknowledge that cross-examining in 5 minute increments is not a reliable way to get at the truth. Dr. Ford agreed. She then indicated that a forensic examination one on one, face to face, is the best way to arrive at the truth, and to that Dr. Ford agreed. Then she indicated that this professional psychologist, who knew that a forensic examination was probably the only real way to determine truth from conjecture, instead flew to the East Coast for a funeral, was given a polygraph test in her hotel, and then hired a team of lawyers instead of doing the right thing. That was a powerful close.
When it was Judge Kavanaugh’s time, he gave a very powerful, emotional statement defining his innocence, his opinion that this process is a sham, and identified statements by Democratic Senators made in public that depicted him as evil, as a nightmare, and other disparaging descriptions. He described what is happening as a political hit job, pure and simple.
He succinctly put it that these toxic tactics poison the well for qualified people in the future to come forth to serve our country in high positions. He also depicted how his reputation and his family have been permanently damaged, and how Dr. Ford in his viewpoint is also an unwitting victim in this process, and that his family is praying for her and her family. He let the Democrats know that they may vote him away, but he never, ever will consider quitting. His statement was strong, and also very credible.
The subsequent questioning period was as anticipated. The Democrats were all accusing him of attempted rape, and having a serious drinking problem, seldom giving him enough time for a proper rebuttal. Senator Feinstein even opened up a pandora’s box that I’m sure the rest of the Democratic panel wished she would not do, and that was bringing up Deborah Ramirez and Julie Swetnick, both of whom are very questionable characters. Judge Kavanaugh quickly dismissed their accusations.
Every Democrat questioner pushed the point that the Judge did not insist on an FBI investigation. The answer was the same each time, and that was he would do anything that the Judicial Committee would ask, including that. Senator Graham and others reminded them that all that would have been done if they did not sandbag Dr. Ford’s accusation until the 11th hour, that there could have been at least 1.5 months of investigation time. It was made clear that this was not done to find the truth, but just to hold up the nomination. Their hope was that they may take over the Senate and make it impossible for the President to appoint any conservative judge. Yes, this was shown to be a political “hit job”, and at the end of the day, both witnesses were credible. But one was more so than the other.
Dr. Ford was shown to be certain in her allegation, but without a time frame, without a place, without a real explanation of how she escaped the house, and without any recollection of how she got home, which was a 20 minute drive from the party, her credibility simply revolved around her certainty that Judge Cavanaugh was the one that assaulted her. She had no one coming forth that she named as being at the scene, even her best friend to say that this happened, or even that they remember any party. She had no one to turn to for any collaboration.
Judge Cavanaugh was certain of his innocence. He, along with Republican questioners, did a good job of proving that the Democrats were more interested in scuttling his appointment rather than the protection of women. His collaborating evidence of moral responsibility and respect for women was spot on, with 65 of his former high school female acquaintances signing an affidavit that he was always a gentleman and friend was very telling. Others that he has worked with over the years presented letters testifying to his moral center and respect for women. He also had his day timer from that period that identified where and when hes was that summer. At the end of the hearing, it was apparent to me that although both he and Dr. Ford were credible, he was more credible than her.
We will find out in the next few days if Judge Kavanaugh gets out of committee and out of the Senate. If he does, the President will appoint him to the position. Even then, the Democrats, with their cynical tactic of “total destruction” will hang their accusations like a cloud over his head for the rest of his life. These Democrats should be ashamed of themselves, but instead they are shameless. They have shown that they will do anything to win, even to ruin a decent man and his family.