Kavanaugh Crisis

Brett Michael Kavanaugh, President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee has come under great fire from the media and the Democratic Party. Mr. Kavanaugh is being reviewed by the FBI for the allegations raised against him by Christine Blasey Ford, the first and main accuser. Mrs. Ford has stated that Mr. Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her at a high school party back in 1982.

On July 30, Dr. Ford sent a letter to Senator Dianne Feinstein, senior ranking Democrat on the judiciary committee. The letter that Senator Feinstein received was kept private at Ford’s behest. Republican Senator from Iowa and Senate Judiciary chairman Chuck Grassley  announced that the hearings for Brett Kavanaugh would be held on September 4. This caused an outcry from the Democratic Party, claiming that this date was too soon and that the Republicans were trying to rush the hearing, so not all of the evidence could be looked at by the Senate. For four days Kavanaugh testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee. On September 7, witnesses and legal experts testified about Kavanaugh’s nomination. Dr. Ford’s allegations were never brought

up.

On September 12th, Ford’s letter was sent to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. No criminal investigation was initiated due to the fact that the statute of limitations had run out. In the state of Maryland, the statue of limitations is three years.
The allegations first appeared publicly in an article from the New Yorker in a magazine article and didn’t mention Ford’s name. After this article was released, Kavanaugh made a statement saying. “I categorically and unequivocally deny this allegation. I did not do this back in high school or at any time.” On September 16, The Washington Post published an interview in Ford, this was the first time her name was released to the public. She claimed that a drunken Kavanaugh pinned her down, removed her clothes and covered her mouth to prevent her from screaming. Brett Kavanaugh vehemently denies these accusations.

The September 21 date for the hearing was changed due to Ford stating she wouldn’t be ready, according to USA Today. The Hearing date was changed to September 27. Also on the 24th, a second woman came forward, a Ms. Deborah Ramirez. Ramirez accused Kavanaugh of exposing himself to her and that he thrust his penis in her face. President Trump responded to these allegations in a tweet that these allegations are totally political and that he stands with Kavanaugh. On the 26th a third witness came forth, Julie Swetnick, who also claimed to have seen Kavanaugh partake in agitated drunkenness. “I have a firm recollection of seeing boys lined up outside rooms at many of these parties waiting for their ‘turn’ with a girl inside the room. These boys included Mark Judge and Brett Kavanaugh,” Swetnick stated to CNBC.

The fate of Brett Kavanaugh’s career in the Senate was in the hands of the Senate Judiciary Committee. On October 5, the United States Senate voted 51-49 for the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh. The confirmation vote was almost a straight divide between Republicans and Democrats. The outlier votes were West Virginia’s democratic Senator Joe Manchin who voted yes, Alaska’s Lisa Murkowski, a Republican, who voted no.  Republican Senator Susan Collins of Maine, who gave an outstanding speech with the calm and rational nature that many citizens expect in their senators, also voted yes; and finally Republican Jeff Flake of Arizona voted yes for the confirmation of Justice Brett Kavanaugh, in spite of his hesitation and having called for the delayed vote in order to allow time for a renewed FBI investigation just a week earlier . The final vote accrued on October 6 was 50-48 due to Senator Steve Daines, senator from Montana, being absent in order to attend his daughter’s wedding. All the Democratic senators other than Joe Manchin were against the confirmation, and all Republicans except for senators Daines and Murkowski, were in favor of approving Brett Kavanaugh nomination.

This vote now marks Justice Brett Michael Kavanaugh as the 114th Justice of the United States Supreme Court.  In order to enter into his newly approved justiceship, Mr. Kavanaugh took two oaths: a Constitutional Oath conducted by Chief Justice John G Roberts, and the Judicial Oath, which was administered by former Associate Justice Anthony McLeod Kennedy, whose former position now belongs to Brett Kavanaugh. Justice Kavanaugh is the first Supreme Court Justice to hire an all-woman staff as law clerks in United States Supreme Court history.