5. “Executive Business Meeting,” Committee on the Judiciary website, September 13, 2018, https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/meetings/09/13/2018/executive-business-meeting.
6. Lissandra Villa and Paul McLeod, “Senate Democrats Have Referred A Secret Letter About Brett Kavanaugh To The FBI,” Buzzfeed News, September 13, 2018, https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/lissandravilla/senate-democrats-have-sent-a-secret-letter-about-brett; Lisa Mascaro, “Inside Democrats’ struggle with the Kavanaugh accusation,” AP News, September 24, 2018, https://apnews.com/af6b15bd2abb490b858098ee889b57bd.
7. “Sexual Harrasment in the Workplace,” C-SPAN, September 12, 2018, https://www.c-span.org/video/?451364-1/bipartisan-womens-caucus-examines-sexual-harassment-workplace.
8. “Feinstein Statement on Kavanaugh,” Committee on the Judiciary website, September 13, 2018, https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/press/dem/releases/feinstein-statement-on-kavanaugh.
9. Mascaro, “Inside Democrats’ struggle.”
10. Stephanie Kirchgaessner and Jessica Glenza, “Dianne Feinstein alerts authorities to secret Brett Kavanaugh letter,” The Guardian, September 13, 2018, https://amp.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/sep/13/brett-kavanaugh-dianne-feinstein-confidential-letter.
11. Brett T, “SERIOUSLY? So THIS is what Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s secret Brett Kavanaugh letter was about?” Twitchy, September 13, 2018, https://twitchy.com/brettt-3136/2018/09/13/seriously-so-this-is-what-sen-dianne-feinsteins-secret-brett-kavanaugh-letter-was-about/.
12. Jennifer Slye Aniskovich et al., Letter to Charles Grassley and Dianne Feinstein, https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/2018-09-14%2065%20Women%20who%20know%20Kavanaugh%20from%20High%20School%20-%20Kavanaugh%20Nomination.pdf.
13. Jane Mayer and Ronan Farrow, “Four Women Accuse New York’s Attorney General Of Physical Abuse,” New Yorker, May 7, 2018, https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/four-women-accuse-new-yorks-attorney-general-of-physical-abuse; Ronan Farrow, “From Aggressive Overtures to Sexual Assault: Harvey Weinstein’s Accusers Tell Their Stories,” New Yorker, October 10, 2017, https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/from-aggressive-overtures-to-sexual-assault-harvey-weinsteins-accusers-tell-their-stories; Ronan Farrow, “Les Moonves and CBS Face Allegations of Sexual Misconduct,” New Yorker, July 27, 2018, https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/08/06/les-moonves-and-cbs-face-allegations-of-sexual-misconduct.
14. Ronan Farrow and Jane Mayer, “A Sexual-Misconduct Allegation Against the Supreme Court Nominee Brett Kavanaugh Stirs Tension Among Democrats in Congress,” New Yorker, September 14, 2018, https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/a-sexual-misconduct-allegation-against-the-supreme-court-nominee-brett-kavanaugh-stirs-tension-among-democrats-in-congress.
15. John Bresnahan (@BresPolitico), “.@ChuckGrassley releases a letter from 65 women who knew Kavanaugh in high school (showing Rs knew about this high-school rape allegation.) These women say Kavanaugh ‘behaved honorably and treated women with respect.’ ” Twitter, September 14, 2018, 8:02 a.m., https://twitter.com/BresPolitico/status/1040616745499848704; “/ 2 ADD – Judiciary Cmte Republicans object to my tweet. GOP aides say they didn’t know the substance of the Feinstein letter or the nature of the allegations. GOP aide also says Judiciary Cmte Rs received updated FBI file on Kavanaugh yesterday after Feinstein letter,” September 14, 2018, 8:32 a.m., https://twitter.com/BresPolitico/status/1040624414814072837; “/3 But clearly it took some effort to fund 65 women who attended high school at same time as Kavanaugh 30-odd years ago. This took some time to round up signatures,” September 14, 2018, 8:35 a.m., https://twitter.com/BresPolitico/status/1040625006449971200.
16. Elana Schor, “Anita Hill: Kavanaugh Accuser deserves ‘fair and neutral’ process,” Politico, September 14, 2018, https://www.politico.com/story/2018/09/14/anita-hill-kavanaugh-accuser-deserves-fair-and-neutral-process-825111.
17. The leak from the FBI background file, a serious breach of Senate procedure, triggered a special counsel investigation into its source. The counsel was never able to identify the source, but made the unremarkable conclusion that it was unlikely to have been leaked by Republican staffers; Neil A. Lewis, “Inquiry Fails to Find Source of Leak at Thomas Hearing,” New York Times, May 6, 1992, A00018. Feinstein’s staffers probably knew this history, which may have influenced how they handled the letter from Kavanaugh’s accuser.
18. When Thomas took the stand on Friday evening, October 11, his testimony received higher ratings than a baseball playoff game the same night. The ratings continued to be high throughout the weekend. By contrast, the Bork hearings weren’t even televised after the first day. John Anthony Maltese, The Selling of Supreme Court Nominees, (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1995), 92–93.
19. Emma Brown interview on Morning Joe, MSNBC, September 17, 2008, https://archive.org/details/MSNBCW_20180917_100000_Morning_Joe/start/1860/end/1920.
20. The Washington Post story about Ford’s allegations will be quoted throughout this chapter. Emma Brown, “California professor, writer of confidential Brett Kavanaugh letter speaks out about her allegation of sexual assault,” Washington Post, September 16, 2018, A1.
Chapter Six: Delay, Delay, Delay
1. Kasie DC (@Kasie DC), “BREAKING: Sen. Bob Corker says he believes a vote on Kavanaugh should not be held until his accuser speaks to the Senate Judiciary Committee. If she wishes to do so, he says, ‘she should do it promptly.’ ” Twitter, September 16, 2018, 6:03 p.m., https://twitter.com/KasieDC/status/1041492710526525440.
2. Elana Schor, “Flake’s revenge? Trump antagonist holds power over Supreme Court pick,” Politico, September 16, 2018, https://www.politico.com/story/2018/09/16/flake-kavanaugh-trump-revenge-826067.
3. Jenny Hollander, “Why ‘Believe Women’ Means Believing Women Without Exception,” Bustle, November 21, 2017, https://www.bustle.com/p/why-believe-women-means-believing-women-without-exception-5532903.
4. Elizabeth Landers (@ElizLanders), “.@gregclarycnn asked Sen Susan Collins if she believed the accuser, Christine Blasey Ford. Collins said: ‘I don’t know enough to create the judgment at this point.’ ” Twitter, September 16, 2018, 3:20 p.m., https://twitter.com/ElizLanders/status/1041451852032819201.
5. Caitlin Flanagan, “I Believe Her,” The Atlantic, September 17, 2018, https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2018/09/me-too/570520/.
6. John T. Bennett, “Three Ways Kavanaugh Nomination Could Play Out After Accuser Speaks,” Roll Call, September 16, 2018, https://www.rollcall.com/news/politics/kavanaugh-3-ways-nomination.
7. Alanna Vagianos, Amanda Terkel, and Jenna Amatulli, “Brett Kavanaugh’s Supporters Now Far More Reluctant To Speak Up Publicly,” HuffPost, September 18, 2018, https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/brett-kavanaugh-supporters_us_5ba12864e4b04d32ebfd446d.
8. Kalhan Rosenblatt and Rebecca Shabad, “Senators seek delay of Kavanaugh vote after Christine Blasey Ford reveals sexual assault allegation,” NBC News, September 17, 2018, https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/supreme-court/senators-call-delay-kavanaugh-confirmation-vote-after-woman-reveals-sexual-n910026.
9. Benjamin Wittes, “Kavanaugh Bears the Burden of Proof,” The Atlantic, September 21, 2018, https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2018/09/kavanaugh-confirmation/571021/.
10. Eli Rosenberg, “Totally misreading court records and other ways people are trying to undermine Kavanaugh’s accuser,” Washington Post, September 18, 2018, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2018/09/18/how-conservative-media-reacted-christine-ford-accusation-against-brett-kavanaugh/.
11. “Kellyanne Conway on Christine Blasey Ford,” C-SPAN via YouTube, September 17, 2018, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DpxSChWOMBk.
12. Debra Katz interview, “Kavanaugh Confirmation Controversy,” NBC News via archive.com, September 17, 2018, https://archive.org/details/KNTV_20180917_140000_Today/start/900/end/960.
13. Debra Katz interview by Alisyn Camerota, “Confirmation Battle: Kavanaugh Accuser Comes Forward, Details Alleged Attack,” New Day With A
lisyn Camerota and John Berman, CNN via archive.org, https://archive.org/details/CNNW_20180917_110000_New_Day_With_Alisyn_Camerota_and_John_Berman/start/1740/end/1800.
14. Debra Katz interview, “Kavanaugh Assault Allegation,” CBS This Morning, CBS via archive.org, https://archive.org/details/KPIX_20180917_140000_CBS_This_Morning/start/720/end/780.
15. Seung Min Kim and Josh Dawsey, “ ‘Incredibly frustrated’: Inside the GOP effort to save Kavanaugh amid assault allegations,” Washington Post, September 22, 2018, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/incredibly-frustrated-inside-the-gop-effort-to-save-kavanaugh-amid-assault-allegation/2018/09/22/6808baf6-bde0-11e8-b7d2-0773aa1e33da_story.html.
16. Office of the Chairman, Senator Chuck Grassley, “Memorandum Re: Senate Judiciary Committee Investigation of Numerous Allegations Against Justice Brett Kavanaugh During the Senate Confirmation Proceedings,” November 2, 2018, 38.
17. “Read: Christine Blasey Ford’s attorneys’ letter requesting FBI Investigation,” CNN, September 19, 2018, https://www.cnn.com/2018/09/18/politics/ford-attorneys-letter-grassley/index.html.
18. Daniel Chaitin, “DOJ: Allegation against Brett Kavanaugh ‘does not involve any potential federal crime,’ ” Washington Examiner, https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/doj-allegation-against-brett-kavanaugh-does-not-involve-any-potential-federal-crime. The Department of Justice would later confirm that “the FBI does not make any judgment about the credibility or significance of any allegation,” and that, in the absence of a federal crime, their role is simply “to provide information for the use of the decision makers.” Matt Shuham, “DOJ Issues Statement on Kavanaugh Background Check,” Talking Points Memo, September 19, 2018, https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/doj-issues-statement-on-kavanaugh-background-check.
19. Katey Rich, “Julia Louis-Dreyfus Signed an Open Letter Defending Brett Kavanaugh’s Accuser,” Vanity Fair, September 17, 2018, https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2018/09/julia-louis-dreyfus-christine-blasey-ford-letter; Kyle Swenson, “As conservatives attack, hundreds sign setters Supporting Kavanaugh accuser Christine Blasey Ford,” Washington Post, September 18, 2018, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2018/09/18/as-conservatives-attack-hundreds-sign-letters-supporting-kavanaugh-accuser-christine-blasey-ford/.
20. Amanda Terkel and Arthur Delaney, “Alumnae of Christine Blasy Ford’s High School Circulate Letter of Support,” HuffPost, September 17, 2018, https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/christine-blasey-ford-holton-arms-brett-kavanaugh_us_5b9fb3c2e4b04d32ebfabbc6.
21. John Bowden, “Kavanaugh accuser forced out of her home over threats, lawyers say,” The Hill, September 18, 2019, https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/407336-lawyer-kavanaugh-accuser-has-received-death-threats-and.
22. Kelsey Snell and Scott Detrow, “Republicans Reject Kavanaugh Accuser’s Request to Delay Hearing For FBI Investigation,” NPR, https://www.npr.org/2018/09/18/649209595/hearing-with-kavanaugh-and-accuser-alleging-sexual-assault-in-turmoil.
23. Burgess Everett, Elana Schor, Eliana Johnson, and Brent D. Griffiths, “Kavanaugh accuser: FBI should investigate claims of sexual assault,” Politico, September 18, 2018.
24. Michael Dresser, “Gov. Hogan rules out state police investigation of Kavanaugh allegations; Montgomery County police not investigating,” Capital Gazette, September 25, 2018, https://www.capitalgazette.com/news/government/bs-md-hogan-kavanagh-20180921-story.html.
25. Jim Joyner, “Montgomery officials ‘prepared to investigate’ Kavanaugh allegations—if an alleged victim comes forward,” Baltimore Sun, September 28, 2018, https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/bs-md-montgomery-police-kavanaugh-response-20180928-story.html.
26. “Ford ‘Wasn’t Clear’ Committee Offered California Interview in lieu of Public Washington Hearing,” Committee on the Judiciary website, October 2, 2018, https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/press/rep/releases/ford-wasnt-clear-committee-offered-california-interview-in-lieu-of-public-washington-hearing.
27. John Bowden, “Dem: ‘Bulls—-’ to say GOP doing everything to contact Kavanaugh accuser,” The Hill, September 19, 2018, https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/407527-dem-bulls-to-say-gop-doing-everything-to-contact-kavanaugh-accuser.
28. Cheyenne Haslett, “Sen. Mazie Hirono’s message to American men: ‘Just shut up and step up,’ ” ABC News, September 18, 2018, https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/sen-mazie-hironos-message-american-men-shut-step/story?id=57920219.
29. National Review Editors, “If Kavanaugh’s Accuser Won’t Testify, the Senate Should Vote,” National Review, September 20, 2018, https://www.nationalreview.com/2018/09/brett-kavanaugh-allegations-christine-blasey-ford-invitation-to-testify/; Andrew C. McCarthy, “It’s a Set-up,” National Review, September 19, 2018, https://www.nationalreview.com/2018/09/brett-kavanaugh-accuser-must-testify/.
30. Cheyenne Haslett, “Sen. Mazie Hirono’s message to American men.”
31. Mike Allen and Jim VandeHei, “Dems plot massive campaign if Kavanaugh falls,” Axios, September 20, 2018, https://www.axios.com/brett-kavanaugh-confirmation-democrats-2018-midterm-elections-3ce55ebf-dc62-46b9-8ffa-bb1a7fe7cb18.html.
32. Ariel Edwards-Levy, “Brett Kavanaugh Is Accused Of Sexual Assault. That Hasn’t Changed Public Opinion At All.,” HuffPost, September 19, 2018, https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/brett-kavanugh-sexual-assault-allegation-public-opinion_us_5ba23ce2e4b013b09780d1b3.
33. David Byler, “What Do the Polls Say About Brett Kavanaugh?” Weekly Standard, September 20, 2018, https://www.weeklystandard.com/david-byler/have-christine-blasey-fords-allegations-against-brett-kavanaugh-affected-his-polling.
34. Gabriel Sherman, “ ‘Cut Bait’: As The Kavanaugh Nightmare Escalates, Trump Is Gripped With Uncertainty As Ivanka Suggests Cutting The Judge Loose,” Vanity Fair, September 18, 2018, https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2018/09/kavanaugh-allegations-trump-ivanka.
35. Julie Pace, “Bredesen backs Senate vote if Kavanaugh accuser won’t appear,” AP News, September 19, 2018, https://apnews.com/f316ae20e8a340f584cb53a8866171d0.
36. Mollie Hemingway, “The Kavanaugh Allegation Process Is A Miscarriage Of Justice For Everyone,” The Federalist, September 19, 2018, http://thefederalist.com/2018/09/19/the-kavanaugh-allegation-process-is-a-miscarriage-of-justice-for-everyone/.
37. Chris Cillizza (@CillizzaCNN), “Walking a VERY dangerous line here. . . . .” Twitter, September 18, 2018, 8:21 a.m., https://twitter.com/cillizzacnn/status/1042071101105467393.
38. Moriah Balingit, “ ‘What happens at Georgetown Prep stays at Georgetown Prep’: Kavanaugh remarks in 2015 speech get renewed scrutiny,” Washington Post, September 19, 2018, https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2018/09/19/what-happens-georgetown-prep-stays-georgetown-prep-kavanaugh-remarks-speech-get-renewed-scrutiny/.
39. Naomi Lim, “Elizabeth Warren attacks Brett Kavanaugh for once saying, ‘What happens at Georgetown Prep, stays at Georgetown Prep,’ ” Washington Examiner, September 18, 2018, https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/elizabeth-warren-attacks-brett-kavanaugh-for-once-saying-what-happens-at-georgetown-prep-stays-at-georgetown-prep.
40. “CNN Airs Edited Kavanaugh Clips, Says It Shows ‘There Are Portions of His Childhood He’d Rather Not Come to Light,’ ” Grabien, https://grabien.com/story.php?id=194065.
41. Rebecca Morin, “Kavanaugh in 2015: ‘What happens at Georgetown Prep, stays at Georgetown Prep,’ ” Politico, September 18, 2018, https://www.politico.com/story/2018/09/18/kavanaugh-what-happens-geogetown-prep-828420; Washington Post (@washingtonpost), ‘What happens at Georgetown Prep say at Georgetown Prep’: Kavanaugh remarks in 2015 speech get renewed scrutiny,” Twitter, September 19, 2018, 8:18 p.m., https://twitter.com/washingtonpost/status/1042613840335265792.
42. Jack Crowe, “Classmate of Kavanaugh Accuser Backtracks after Guilty Claim Goes Viral,” National Review, September 19, 2018, https://www.nationalreview.com/news/brett-kavanaugh-accusers-classmate-backtracks-after-guilty-claim-goes-viral/.
43. Domenico M
ontanaro, “Kavanaugh Accuser’s Classmate: ‘That It Happened Or Not, I Have No Idea,’ ” NPR, September 20, 2018, https://www.npr.org/2018/09/20/649787076/kavanaugh-accuser-classmate-that-it-happened-or-not-i-have-no-idea.
44. Jack Crowe, “Classmate of Kavanaugh Accuser Backtracks.”
45. Ken Dilanian, Brandy Zadrozny, and Ben Popken, “Accuser’s schoolmate says she recalls hearing of alleged Kavanaugh incident,” NBC News, September 19, 2018, https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/supreme-court/accuser-s-schoolmate-says-she-recalls-hearing-alleged-kavanaugh-incident-n911111.
46. Emily Peck, “Brett Kavanaugh Liked Female Clerks Who Looked A ‘Certain Way,’ Yale Student Was Told,” HuffPost, September 19, 2018, https://www.huffpost.com/entry/yale-student-brett-kavanaugh-clerkship-look_n_5ba2f051e4b0181540d9e2bb.
47. Stephanie Kirchgaessner and Jessica Glenza, “ ‘No accident’ Brett Kavanaugh’s female law clerks ‘looked like models,’ Yale professor told students,” The Guardian, September 20, 2018, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/sep/20/brett-kavanaugh-supreme-court-yale-amy-chua.
48. Adam Edelman and Kasie Hunt, “Yale Law dean: Reports that professor groomed female clerks for Kavanaugh ‘of enormous concern,’ NBC News, September 20, 2018, https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/supreme-court/yale-law-dean-reports-professor-groomed-female-clerks-kavanaugh-enormous-n911571.
49. Abigail Shrier (@AbigailShrier), “I was a student of @amychua’s a YLS. She has a very quick wit and an off-beat sense of humor. If she said this, it was part of her sparkling repartee, often tongue-in-cheek. What McCarthyist hell are we living?” Twitter, September 20, 2018, 8:24 p.m., https://twitter.com/AbigailShrier/status/1042977834082295813.
50. Amy Chua (@amychua), “As some of you many know, there have been stories about me in the recent news cycle. All the claims are outrageous and 100% false. Here is a statement I released to the Yale Law School community:” Twitter, September 22, 2018, 4:21 p.m., https://twitter.com/amychua/status/1043641537102532608.
Justice on Trial: The Kavanaugh Confirmation and the Future of the Supreme Court Page 38