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WATCH: Sen. Hatch Details The Evidence Against The Kavanaugh Accusations

   DailyWire.com

On the floor of the Senate Thursday, Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah made his closing arguments for the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, providing evidence against the uncorroborated allegations and condemning the Democrats’ manipulative and partisan handling of the allegations.

The senator began by stressing Kavanaugh’s unquestionable qualifications for the position, noting that he is “among the most distinguished and most influential judges in the entire country” (full transcript, video below). His decisions have influenced the Supreme Court “no less than eleven times,” said Hatch, and he has taught courses “at Harvard, Yale, and Georgetown.”

But his impeccable record has not been the focus of the last few weeks, Hatch underscores; rather, uncorroborated and often absurd on their face accusations given credence by the Democrats. The result as been “the lowest, most vile, most dishonest attempt at character assassination” he’s ever seen.

“We’ve had protestors in halls and hearing rooms and elevators. We’ve even seen the miraculous return of Spartacus,” he said. “And, Mr. President, we’ve had the lowest, most vile, most dishonest attempt at character assassination that I’ve ever seen in all my 42 years in the Senate. We may never know who leaked reports of Dr. Ford’s allegations to the press. We do know it was someone in the Democratic orbit. This was followed by the most appalling smear campaign imaginable. No accusation was too heinous, no claim too far-fetched.”

Hatch then called out the Democrats for pretending alarm over Kavanaugh’s response to their shamelessly political smear campaign, particularly by acting as if they’d only pushed Christine Blasey Ford’s allegations.

“My Democratic colleagues like to pretend that Judge Kavanaugh’s understandable indignation at last week’s hearing was a reaction only to Dr. Ford’s allegations, but of course, that’s not the case,” said Hatch. “In the days immediately preceding the hearing, Judge Kavanaugh was accused of drugging women, of serial assault, and even gang rape. As Judge Kavanaugh told committee investigators, it was like the Twilight Zone. I sure wish my Democratic colleagues would stop trying to rewrite history to excise the slew of garbage they unleashed on Judge Kavanaugh and the American people.”

Hatch then focused his attention on Ford’s allegations, which he called “serious.” “If true, they should disqualify Judge Kavanaugh from serving on the Supreme Court,” he said. “But neither Dr. Ford, nor her attorneys, nor any member of the news media has been able to provide any corroboration for her claims. To the contrary, every alleged eyewitness or partygoer that she has named has either denied her allegations or failed to corroborate them. This includes her lifelong friend, Leland Keyser, whom Dr. Ford says was present at the party that night. Ms. Keyser says that not only does she not remember such a gathering ever taking place, but that she does not even know Judge Kavanaugh.”

And more questions have begun to arise following Ford’s testimony that undermine her credibility, Hatch said, including her claims about the second front door and not having helped anyone prepare for a lie detector test.

“Questions have been raised in recent days about certain elements of Dr. Ford’s testimony,” he said. “She says she first told others that Judge Kavanaugh had attacked her around the time of a house remodel to add a second front door to her home. But permit records show the door was added four years prior to her first alleged mention of Judge Kavanaugh. She testified she’d never given advice on how to take a polygraph test. A former boyfriend of hers, however, disputes that statement. Dr. Ford has also offered inconsistent accounts of when the attack took place and how many people were present at the party.”

He also notes that other aspects of her account are “confusing,” including her selective memory which leaves out key details essential in corroborating her allegations, including how she got home. “Even more puzzling, her good friend, Ms. Keyser, apparently never asked Dr. Ford why she disappeared from the party,” he noted.

“Given that there is no corroborating evidence for Dr. Ford’s claims, all we have to go on is her story,” he continued. “Although not dispositive, the questions and inconsistencies and puzzling aspects that I have just outlined call into question the reliability of her account. This is simply not enough, Mr. President, to conclude that Judge Kavanaugh is guilty of the heinous act Dr. Ford alleges.”

In Kavanaugh’s favor, he argued, we have a documented “lifetime of good works and honorable public service,” testified to by “dozens of letters from hundreds of people attesting to Judge Kavanaugh’s good character and unimpeachable credentials.”

“His clerks, students, and former colleagues have all praised him as a man of the highest integrity. He has made the promotion and encouragement of women lawyers a focus of his time on the bench. He volunteers in his community and mentors young athletes. This is a good man,” he said. “What Dr. Ford alleges is entirely out of character with the entire course of Judge Kavanaugh’s life. The recent sideshow stories about his drinking habits in high school and college over 30 years ago from people who never liked him in the first place are just a distraction. That this confirmation process has turned into a feeding frenzy about how nice Judge Kavanaugh was to his freshman roommate is an embarrassment.”

In the end, the Senate “has taken these allegations seriously” and done their due diligence. The FBI “found no corroborating evidence for any of the recent allegations against him. Not a single piece of corroborating evidence,” he stressed.

“Mr. President, I will vote to confirm Judge Kavanaugh,” Hatch concluded. “He is unquestionably qualified. He has gone through the most thorough vetting process I’ve ever seen. Hundreds of thousands of documents produced. Five days of hearings. Seven FBI background checks. We know what we need to know. The American people know what they need to know. It’s time to vote. It’s time to confirm this good man to the Supreme Court.”

In a tweet including an excerpt of his speech, Hatch laid out his four reasons the Senate should confirm Kavanaugh:

Full video and transcript below:

Mr. President, nearly three months ago, I came to the Senate floor for the first time to support President Trump’s nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. Here’s what I had to say at that time:

“Judge Kavanaugh is among the most distinguished and most influential judges in the entire country. The Supreme Court has adopted the positions in his opinions no less than eleven times. He has authored multiple dissents that ultimately prevailed in the Supreme Court. He has taught courses at Harvard, Yale, and Georgetown. And, it bears mention, liberal and conservative justices alike have hired his former clerks, which shows the respect he has across the ideological spectrum. Truly, Mr. President, there is no one more qualified and more prepared to serve on the Supreme Court than Brett Kavanaugh.”

A lot has transpired in the last three months. We’ve received—and reviewed—more documents for Judge Kavanaugh than for any other Supreme Court nominee in our nation’s history. We’ve had five days of public hearings. Judge Kavanaugh has answered more than 1,300 written questions—more questions than all previous Supreme Court nominees combined. We’ve had protestors in halls and hearing rooms and elevators. We’ve even seen the miraculous return of Spartacus.

And, Mr. President, we’ve had the lowest, most vile, most dishonest attempt at character assassination that I’ve ever seen in all my 42 years in the Senate. We may never know who leaked reports of Dr. Ford’s allegations to the press. We do know it was someone in the Democratic orbit. This was followed by the most appalling smear campaign imaginable. No accusation was too heinous, no claim too far-fetched.

My Democratic colleagues like to pretend that Judge Kavanaugh’s understandable indignation at last week’s hearing was a reaction only to Dr. Ford’s allegations, but of course, that’s not the case. In the days immediately preceding the hearing, Judge Kavanaugh was accused of drugging women, of serial assault, and even gang rape. As Judge Kavanaugh told committee investigators, it was like the Twilight Zone. I sure wish my Democratic colleagues would stop trying to rewrite history to excise the slew of garbage they unleashed on Judge Kavanaugh and the American people.

I’d like to say a word here about Dr. Ford. It’s clear now that we’ll never know what happened 36 years ago. Dr. Ford offered a moving account of what she says happened between her and Judge Kavanaugh back when they were teenagers. Judge Kavanaugh, in turn, offered a forceful, impassioned rebuttal of her claims. Some have criticized Judge Kavanaugh for being too forceful in his response. Interestingly, almost without exception, these critics had announced their opposition to Judge Kavanaugh even before Dr. Ford’s allegations were leaked to the press. So let’s not pretend these critics are neutral observers. And in any event, Judge Kavanaugh’s indignation at what he clearly believes are false and unjust accusations was both understandable and, in my view, entirely proper.

Dr. Ford’s allegations are serious. If true, they should disqualify Judge Kavanaugh from serving on the Supreme Court. But neither Dr. Ford, nor her attorneys, nor any member of the news media has been able to provide any corroboration for her claims. To the contrary, every alleged eyewitness or partygoer that she has named has either denied her allegations or failed to corroborate them. This includes her lifelong friend, Leland Keyser, whom Dr. Ford says was present at the party that night. Ms. Keyser says that not only does she not remember such a gathering ever taking place, but that she does not even know Judge Kavanaugh.

Questions have been raised in recent days about certain elements of Dr. Ford’s testimony. She says she first told others that Judge Kavanaugh had attacked her around the time of a house remodel to add a second front door to her home. But permit records show the door was added four years prior to her first alleged mention of Judge Kavanaugh. She testified she’d never given advice on how to take a polygraph test. A former boyfriend of hers, however, disputes that statement. Dr. Ford has also offered inconsistent accounts of when the attack took place and how many people were present at the party.

There are other aspects of her story that are also confusing. She does not remember where or when the attack took place, but she remembers with crystal clarity how much alcohol she had consumed. This appears to be the only fact unrelated to the alleged attack that she is able to recall with certainty.

Dr. Ford also testified that after the attack, she ran out of the party. The location of the party would have had to be some distance from her home. She was too young to drive, so she would have had to have gotten a ride home. But she does not recall who drove her home, and given that this was long before the era of cell phones, it’s unclear how she would have contacted someone to come pick her up after she ran out of the party. Even more puzzling, her good friend, Ms. Keyser, apparently never asked Dr. Ford why she disappeared from the party.

Given that there is no corroborating evidence for Dr. Ford’s claims, all we have to go on is her story. Although not dispositive, the questions and inconsistencies and puzzling aspects that I have just outlined call into question the reliability of her account. This is simply not enough, Mr. President, to conclude that Judge Kavanaugh is guilty of the heinous act Dr. Ford alleges.

Against the thinness of Dr. Ford’s accusations, we have an entire lifetime of good works and honorable public service by Judge Kavanaugh. We have received dozens of letters from hundreds of people attesting to Judge Kavanaugh’s good character and unimpeachable credentials. His clerks, students, and former colleagues have all praised him as a man of the highest integrity. He has made the promotion and encouragement of women lawyers a focus of his time on the bench. He volunteers in his community and mentors young athletes. This is a good man.

What Dr. Ford alleges is entirely out of character with the entire course of Judge Kavanaugh’s life. The recent sideshow stories about his drinking habits in high school and college over 30 years ago from people who never liked him in the first place are just a distraction. That this confirmation process has turned into a feeding frenzy about how nice Judge Kavanaugh was to his freshman roommate is an embarrassment.

That said, the Senate has taken these allegations seriously. We invited Dr. Ford and Judge Kavanaugh to testify, and they did so. Committee investigators spoke with numerous individuals who said they had relevant information to share. The committee also took statements under penalty of felony from the alleged witnesses Dr. Ford named.
In addition, the FBI recently completed a supplemental background check of Judge Kavanaugh. And the FBI found no corroborating evidence for any of the recent allegations against him. Not a single piece of corroborating evidence.

Now that the FBI has found no corroborating evidence, some of my Democratic colleagues have taken to calling into question the credibility of the FBI and its investigators. These attacks are irresponsible.

Indeed, contrary to what my Democratic colleagues have said, the FBI conducted a thorough, professional, and expeditious investigation. The FBI talked to the people it needed to talk to. What agents didn’t do is talk to someone who says he talked to someone more than 30 years ago who now doesn’t remember seeing anything. They didn’t investigate whether Judge Kavanaugh was in fact spotted near a punch bowl at a high school party. And they were right not to do so. An FBI investigation is not a wild goose chase.

Some of my Democratic colleagues are also complaining that the FBI didn’t interview Dr. Ford or Judge Kavanaugh during the supplemental investigation. Well, Dr. Ford testified in a public hearing for nearly three hours. She told the committee she had given us all of the information she could remember. The FBI does not need to repeat questions that have already been asked and answered, particularly when a person has already said she’s shared everything she can remember.

Judge Kavanaugh likewise testified publicly at the hearing. He also spent several hours answering questions from committee investigators under penalty of felony on several different occasions. He has been thoroughly interrogated, under oath, in public and in private, about these allegations.

Some of my Senate Judiciary Committee colleagues made the unfortunate choice last night to smear Judge Kavanaugh with yet another piece of innuendo. Eight members of the committee sent a letter in which they incorrectly implied that the six previous background checks on Judge Kavanaugh contained information concerning sexual improprieties or alcohol abuse. In so doing, they took advantage of rules that protect the confidentiality of witnesses to score cheap political points. Although we should all be disquieted by my colleagues’ unscrupulous conduct, the American people can rest assured that no such information exists. If it did, Democrats would have raised it before now. Of that we can be certain.

Indeed, Mr. President, after weeks of nonstop mudslinging and attempted character assassination by Senate Democrats and their media allies, no one has been able to find any charge against Judge Kavanaugh that sticks. And you can believe they’ve tried. Boy can you believe they’ve tried. This has been the worst example of the Washington smear machine that I’ve seen in all my 42 years of Senate service.

So we’re left back where we were before this whole sordid saga began. Judge Kavanaugh is eminently qualified—unquestionably qualified—to serve on our nation’s highest court. He is among the most distinguished, influential judges in the entire country. His opinions have received widespread acclaim and have won approval by the Supreme Court on multiple occasions. The American Bar Association interviewed more than a hundred fellow judges and lawyers who know Judge Kavanaugh and who have appeared before him and they all spoke with virtual unanimity in praising his integrity, his work product, and his judicial temperament.

I’m sorry that Judge Kavanaugh has had to go through this ordeal. He did not deserve this. He is a good man. He spent decades building a reputation of decency and fairness. His opponents have destroyed it with three weeks of smut and unsubstantiated allegations.

But I know Brett Kavanaugh. I know him well. He is a man of great resilience and firm conviction. He is going to be a great Justice, perhaps one of the greatest we’ve had. He will bring to the Supreme Court the integrity, honor, and intellectual rigor he has demonstrated throughout his entire career. And soon enough, he will have rebuilt his reputation. He will earn the respect of his colleagues and the American people through his writings and his decisions. Of that I have no doubt.

Mr. President, I will vote to confirm Judge Kavanaugh. He is unquestionably qualified. He has gone through the most thorough vetting process I’ve ever seen. Hundreds of thousands of documents produced. Five days of hearings. Seven FBI background checks. We know what we need to know. The American people know what they need to know. It’s time to vote. It’s time to confirm this good man to the Supreme Court.

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