The Senate voted to confirm Judge Kavanaugh as a Supreme Court Justice, in a move that will go down in history as one of the most politically polarizing Supreme Court nominations in history. Members of the Senate voted on Saturday, as a barrage of screaming women crying “Shame!” filled tie Senate’s public galleries. The responses of these women come from the many allegations of sexual assault made against Judge Brett Kavanaugh over the last few months.
The official vote, 50 to 48, was nearly split along party lines. President Trump and Senate Republican leaders have sought to do everything in their collective powers to stock the highest court in the land with conservative judges, and this Senate vote confirmed that their tireless efforts proved successful. Following his Senate confirmation, Judge Kavanaugh was officially sworn in by both Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justice Anthony M. Kennedy — the retired Justice whom he will replace — behind closed doors.
As with any major news that President Trump learns about, the President took to Twitter (TWTR) to announce the news on Judge Kavanaugh’s confirmation:
“I applaud and congratulate the U.S. for confirming our GREAT NOMINEE, Judge Brett Kavanaugh, to the United States Supreme Court. Later today, I will sign his Commission of Appointment, and he will be officially sworn in. Very exciting!
President Trump told reporters that Justice Kavanaugh will “go down as a totally brilliant Supreme Court justice for many years.” Trump’s “valley-girl impression” aside, the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court will have lasting effects on our country’s faith in the Senate to be bipartisan.
While many believe the Senate Judiciary Committee did their due diligence in investigating all sexual misconduct claims made against Justice Kavanaugh, Democrats in the Senate believe this to be a travesty of justice. Last Thursday, Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), released an executive summary, informally known as the “quick and dirty details,” of the FBI’s most recent investigation into the Brett Kavanaugh allegations.
According to the background section of the executive summary, The FBI reached out to “all witnesses with potential firsthand knowledge of the allegations” made against Judge Kavanaugh. After reviewing this summary, I noticed that Dr. Christine Blasey Ford was not one of the individuals included in the investigation. I understand that she was interviewed by the Senate Judiciary Committee, but one would think that one of the key accusers of Judge Kavanaugh should have the opportunity to corroborate their testimony to the FBI for review. Given that her information might have worked in tandem with information gathered from the individuals in the FBI report, I find it to be a bit disconcerting that Dr. Ford was excluded from the report.
Perhaps the most concerning element of the FBI investigation was that Kavanaugh was not interviewed by the FBI. During one of the last Senate Judiciary Committee hearings, Democratic members of the Senate insisted that the committee put the Supreme Court confirmation on hold to investigate allegations further with the help of the FBI, making clear that they wanted Kavanaugh to be interrogated, but this did not take place. Some are suggesting that Kavanaugh was not interviewed so that he would be protected from perjuring himself and risking dismissal from the appointment process. In addition to Kavanaugh’s exclusion from the FBI investigation, many Senators felt that the process was incredibly rushed.
“The most notable part of this report is what’s not in it,” Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) said, in response to viewing the FBI supplemental documents. She added that “it looks to be the product of an incomplete investigation that was limited, perhaps by the White House, I don’t know,” accusing the Trump administration of colluding with the FBI during their most recent investigation.
The Supplemental Background Investigation concludes its findings by informing that “there is no corroboration of the allegations made by Dr. Ford or Ms. Ramirez.” In laymen’s terms, Judge Brett Kavanaugh is innocent of all sexual assault claims.
Ford’s testimony, full of passion, pain, and a narrative that we, as a country, have just set the precedent to refute in the future, failed to persuade Republican Party members to break from their base and vote down Kavanaugh’s nomination. In a rally last Tuesday in Southaven, Mississippi, President Trump publicly mocked Dr. Ford, saying that “this woman had no clue what was going on, and yet she made the most horrible charges.”
I truly hope that following his confirmation, Justice Kavanaugh will hold his position with honor and bipartisanship. A Supreme Court Justice needs to be an individual who can make the hard decisions, usually the hardest decisions facing the entire country, and do so without reacting or lashing out. If we take cues from Justice Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearings, his emotional fortitude becomes less certain. Whether he is innocent or guilty of allegations set forth throughout his court appointment, he seemed, at times, to be very agitated and reactionary. For him to be truly impartial, as is the sole purpose of a Supreme Court Justice, he needs to get his affairs in order, so that he can assure the same for the court at which he sits.
