On Wednesday, Senate Democrats released the latest in an absurd spate of Democratic letters blatantly attempting to hold up the nomination of Judge Kavanaugh for no reason. In the past few days, Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) has written to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-NE) to complain about the FBI’s short time frame; Senator Chris Coons (D-DE) has written to report a non-verified and unbelievable allegation of sexual misconduct.
This time, Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Cory Booker (D-NJ), and Kamala Harris (D-CA) wrote a letter suggesting that the “confidential background investigation of Judge Kavanaugh” from the FBI, prior to the hearings, showed that there was information related in some way to “inappropriate sexual behavior or alcohol abuse.” The Democrats did not specify which of those areas of allegation had been involved. Suffice it to say that the FBI background investigation didn’t raise any issues serious enough for a single Democrat to raise such issues during the initial hearings with Kavanaugh.
But Democrats simply want to muddy the waters at this point. Their entire case against Kavanaugh comes down to the credibility of Christine Blasey Ford, whose testimony is at best uncorroborated, and at worst full of holes (she lacks location, date, and witnesses to back her story — in fact, her own witnesses say they don’t remember the party at issue). Ford herself has been implicated in possible dishonesty on questions ranging from her supposed fear of flying to her experiences with polygraph tests to the rationale behind the two front doors at her home.
The Democrats also want to be able to provide the full FBI investigation data to the public, hoping that in doing so, they can rally enough doubts about that investigation to delay the nomination still further. As they write in their letter, “we urge you to call for a full Senate briefing with the FBI on the results of their re-opened investigation so that all Senators hear the same information and have the same opportunity to question the FBI before any floor vote on the Kavanaugh nomination.” That would represent yet another waiting game, since the FBI report will be what it is; no questioning will require further investigation.
Nonetheless, the Democratic letter achieved the desired effect: the rumor that Kavanaugh was originally dinged for sexually aberrant behavior. Here, for example, is the White House reporter for The Washington Post: