Brett Kavanaugh was inducted as a Supreme Court Justice on October 5th. However in the weeks prior, his nomination was surrounded by controversy. On Sept. 16, Christine Blasey Ford went to The Washington Post with a story that would turn Kavanaugh’s nomination upside down. She alleged that almost 40 years ago she was sexually assaulted by Brett Kavanaugh at a party they both attended. This made the watching nation beg the question, “Was Kavanaugh fit to hold on the highest judicial position in the country?”. Marches took place, protests were had and many people spoke out against having Kavanaugh in power. However, the Republican party ultimately stood by Kavanaugh.
Source: The Wall Street Journal
In the week prior to his confirmation, Kavanaugh underwent a “background check” by the FBI in order to vet claims made against him. The FBI was given a span of one week to do their investigation, in this time they interviewed nine people who have history with Kavanaugh. The White House hand selected Mark Judge, Leland Keyser and P.J. Smith- most of which were at the party where the alleged assault of Christine Blasey Ford took place. Deborah Ramirez was also selected, as she was also one of Kavanaugh’s accusers.
Source: People Magazine
Ford made the initial accusation that lead to the postponement of Kavanugh’s vote by the Senate. Deborah Ramirez then came forward to The New Yorker, recounting when Ford exposed himself to her. Julie Swetnick’s lawyer put out a Twitter post on alleging Kavanaugh performed sexual misconduct while attending parties. An anonymous letter was sent in about Kavanaugh assaulting another woman whom he was dating at the time. These all helped to prompt the FBI investigation.
Source: PolitiFact
On October 4th, a single copy of the FBI’s report was submitted to the Senate for review. The four senators, who were previously undecided on inducting Kavanaugh or not into the supreme court, made their decisions. Susan Collins (ME), Jeff Flake (AZ) and Joe Manchin (WV) decided to vote yes on Kavanaugh’s confirmation. The only previously undecided vote to say no is Lisa Murkowski (AK).
Twitter Source: @derek_dell
When discussing her vote, Sen. Collins stated “I do not believe that these charges can fairly prevent Judge Kavanaugh from serving on the court.” She also said that she does not deny the possibility of Christine Blasey Ford ever being assaulted but she didn’t have enough evidence to call Kavanaugh guilty. With these senators on his side, Brett Kavanaugh’s vote came out to 50-48 with only one Democrat and one Republican voting against their parties. Kavanugh’s entrance into the Supreme Court has shifted the vote to 5-4 in favor of conservative views.
Source: The National Review
The Senate made it clear with their vote that they are not the ones to determine guilt. A few of them suggested that misconduct should not withhold someone from taking office if it doesn’t apply to their current station. Those who were outraged by the confirmation have said Kavanaugh is just a trickle down effect from the election of Donald Trump.
Twitter Source: @ThompsonToons