Brett Kavanaugh has been confirmed to the US Supreme Court in a vote of 50-48, sealing the conservative majority. This decision comes a week and a day after Dr. Christine Blasey Ford’s initial testimony.
After the initial hearing, an FBI investigation was ordered to take a closer look into the sexual misconduct allegations against Kavanaugh. This investigation included nine interviews and outreach to ten people. Two of the people interviewed were Deborah Ramirez, another woman who accused Kavanaugh of sexual assault in college, and Mark Judge, a friend of Kavanaugh’s from high school who Ford had stated to be a witness in her own assault. Two other people that were important to this were P.J. Smyth and Leland Keyser, two friends of Kavanaugh’s that Dr. Ford said were at the party as well.
The investigation lasted a week. However, it did not end up making a huge difference. Due to the FBI having no actual criminal investigation to pursue, agents were not allowed to use search warrants to try to reach the truth. While many of the interviews pointed to the likely possibility that Kavanaugh was not truthful about his drinking habits, no part of the investigation provided conclusive evidence that Kavanaugh had sexually assaulted Ford.
The final vote came down to 50-48, one of the narrowest margins in Supreme Court history. Some of the key votes were Senators Joe Manchin (D-West Virginia), the only undecided Democrat, and Susan Collins (R-Maine). Both ended up voting for Kavanaugh, which determined the final outcome.
As all of this was unfolding, protesters swarmed the capitol, holding signs with messages such as “We will NOT be silent!” and “I believe survivors.” Some protesters had to be forcibly removed.
These events are likely to have quite the impact on midterm elections—many Democrats and women, including myself, are horrified by how Dr. Ford was treated and ignored when she made the extremely brave decision to come forward. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York had a message for the many disappointed and upset Americans: “to so many who are outraged by what happened here…vote.”