Kavanaugh Hearings

[nuckin_futz]

White House authorizes FBI to expand Kavanaugh investigation: report

The White House has reportedly permitted the FBI to interview anyone deemed appropriate in its investigation into sexual misconduct allegations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.

 

The New York Times reported on Monday that the White House gave authorization to expand the investigation from an initial limited list of witnesses, provided that the review is completed by the end of the week.

 

The FBI has already spoken with the four individuals it had been given permission to speak to, the newspaper reported.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

 

The Times report came shortly after President Trump insisted at a press conference that he wanted a "comprehensive investigation" of the claims against Kavanaugh, as long as it's completed quickly.

 

"I think the FBI should do what they have to do to get to the answer," Trump told reporters during a press conference announcing a new trade deal with Mexico and Canada.

 

"Now with that being said, I’d like it go quickly," he continued. "And the reason I'd like it to go quickly — very simple, so simple — because it’s unfair to [Kavanaugh] at this point."

 

Democrats on Sunday criticized the White House for "micromanaging" the investigation amid reports that the administration provided the FBI a limited list of witnesses to interview. The White House also only gave the bureau permission to review allegations from Christine Blasey Ford and Deborah Ramirez, but not Julie Swetnick, the third woman to publicly accuse Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct.

 

The White House disputed that it was involved in the review, instead arguing that Senate Republicans were dictating the terms of the investigation.

Trump suggested he was open to the FBI talking to whomever it wanted to interview — including Kavanaugh himself and all three women who have leveled accusations against him — but also suggested that his view of the investigation was colored by what the Senate GOP wanted.

 

"I’m guided by the Senate," Trump said. "I want to make the Senate happy, because ultimately they’re making the judgment. I’m not making the judgment."

The president said he expected the bureau to speak with Ford — who testified last week that Kavanaugh pinned her to a bed and groped her in the 1980s — and Ramirez, who claimed that Kavanaugh exposed himself to her during a college party in the 1980s.

 

Kavanaugh has denied both allegations.

 

Trump also said he would be OK with the FBI speaking with Swetnick, who is represented by Michael Avenatti, but suggested that she has "very little credibility."

 

"If there is any credibility, interview the third one," Trump said. "But I want it to be done quickly because it's unfair to the family and to the judge."

Swetnick alleged in a signed declaration last week that Kavanaugh was part of a group of high schoolers in the 1980s who intoxicated women so they could be "gang raped."

 

Kavanaugh called the allegation a "farce," and Trump has attacked Avenatti as a "lowlife."

 

The president has repeatedly suggested he expects the FBI investigation to exonerate Kavanaugh, noting that the judge has undergone several other background checks for his past government work without issue.

 

Trump on Monday did appear to leave the door open to changing his mind about his nominee depending on the FBI's findings this week.

"Certainly if they find something, I’m going to take that into consideration," the president said. "I have a very open mind. The person that takes that position is going to be there a very long time."

 

 

https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/409300-white-house-authorizes-fbi-to-expand-kavanaugh-investigation-report

[nuckin_futz]

Mutual friend of Ramirez and Kavanaugh anxious to come forward with evidence

A former classmate of the Supreme Court nominee has reached out to the FBI but hasn't received a response.

 

 

From left, Deborah Ramirez, Kerry E. Berchem, Doug Millet, Karen Yarasavage, Kevin Genda, Brett Kavanaugh and David White pose for a photo at the rehearsal dinner before the wedding of Yarasavage and Genda in 1997.Photo obtained by NBC News

 

 

WASHINGTON — In the days leading up to a public allegation that Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh exposed himself to a college classmate, the judge and his team were communicating behind the scenes with friends to refute the claim, according to text messages obtained by NBC News.

 

Kerry Berchem, who was at Yale with both Kavanaugh and his accuser, Deborah Ramirez, has attempted to get those messages to the FBI for its newly reopened investigation into the matter but says she has yet to be contacted by the bureau.

 

The texts between Berchem and Karen Yarasavage, both friends of Kavanaugh, suggest that the nominee was personally talking with former classmates about Ramirez’s story in advance of the New Yorker article that made her allegation public. In one message, Yarasavage said Kavanaugh asked her to go on the record in his defense. Two other messages show communication between Kavanaugh's team and former classmates in advance of the story.

 

The texts also demonstrate that Kavanaugh and Ramirez were more socially connected than previously understood and that Ramirez was uncomfortable around Kavanaugh when they saw each other at a wedding 10 years after they graduated. Berchem's efforts also show that some potential witnesses have been unable to get important information through to the FBI.

 

On Monday, a senior U.S. official confirmed that the White House has authorized the FBI to expand its initially limited investigation by interviewing anyone it deems necessary as long as the review is finished by the end of the week. The New York Times first reported the change in scope.

 

NBC News reached out to Berchem for comment after obtaining a copy of a memo she wrote about the text messages. In a statement to NBC News, Berchem, a partner in the law firm Akin Gump, said: “I understand that President Trump and the U.S. Senate have ordered an FBI investigation into certain allegations of sexual misconduct by the nominee Brett Kavanaugh. I have no direct or indirect knowledge about any of the allegations against him.

 

However, I am in receipt of text messages from a mutual friend of both Debbie and mine that raise questions related to the allegations. I have not drawn any conclusions as to what the texts may mean or may not mean but I do believe they merit investigation by the FBI and the Senate. “

 

On Sunday, Berchem emailed FBI agent J.C. McDonough her memo. Since she had not heard back, Monday morning she resent the summary as well as screen shots of certain texts that she thinks raise questions that should be investigated. “I’m sure he’s really busy and expect that he’ll get back to me,” said Berchem.

 

Berchem’s memo outlining her correspondence with Yarasavage shows there’s a circle of Kavanaugh friends who may have pertinent information and evidence relevant to the inquiry who may not be interviewed. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has already set in motion a vote on Kavanaugh’s nomination on the Senate floor for later this week.

 

Kavanaugh has strongly denied the allegation by Ramirez as well as Christine Blasey Ford’s allegation that he sexually assaulted her when the two of them were in high school and claims by Julie Swetnick, who has accused Kavanaugh of engaging in sexual misconduct at parties while he was a student at Georgetown Preparatory School in the 1980s.

 

Berchem, a 51-year-old graduate of Yale and a Connecticut resident, reached out Sen. Richard Blumenthal's office last week. Blumenthal, a Democrat, sits on the Judiciary Committee.

 

“We heard from Kerry late on Thursday and submitted her summary to the Judiciary Committee early Friday,” a spokeswoman for Blumenthal said in a statement to NBC News. “After we were made to jump through several hoops that delayed our moving forward, it became clear that the majority Committee staff had not turned this summary over to the FBI and, in fact, had no intention of turning it over to the FBI. With our assistance, Kerry submitted her summary to the FBI herself.”

 

George Hartmann, a spokesman for Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Grassley said that “The texts from Ms. Bercham do not appear relevant or contradictory to Judge Kavanaugh’s testimony. This appears to be another last-ditch effort to derail the nomination with baseless innuendo by Democrats who have already decided to vote no.”

 

Her texts with Yarasavage shed light on Kavanaugh’s personal contact with friends, including that he obtained a copy of a photograph of a small group of friends from Yale at a 1997 wedding in order to show himself smiling alongside Ramirez ten years after the alleged incident. Kavanaugh was a groomsman and Ramirez a bridesmaid at the wedding.

 

Berchem hired a lawyer on Sunday to help her get her information into the right hands. She has twice sent her memo to the FBI and has yet to hear a response, according to her lawyer, who spoke on condition of anonymity. He flagged two texts in particular.

 

In a series of texts prior to the publication of the New Yorker story, Yarasavage wrote that she had been in contact with “Brett's guy,” and also with “Brett,” who wanted her to go on the record to refute Ramirez. According to Berchem, Yarasavage also told her friend that she turned over a copy of the wedding party photo to Kavanaugh, writing in a text message: “I had to send it to Brett’s team too.”

 

Bob Bauer, former White House counsel for President Barack Obama, said "It would be surprising, and it would certainly be highly imprudent, if at any point Judge Kavanaugh directly contacted an individual believed to have information about allegations like this. A nominee would normally have been counseled to leave to his legal and nominations team the job of following up on any questions arising from press reports or otherwise, and doing so appropriately."

 

Further, the texts show Kavanaugh may need to be questioned about how far back he anticipated Ramirez would air allegations against him. Berchem says, in her memo, that Kavanaugh “and/or” his friends “may have initiated an anticipatory narrative” as early as July to “conceal or discredit” Ramirez.

Kavanaugh told the Senate Judiciary Committee under oath that the first time he heard of his former Yale classmate Deborah Ramirez’s allegation that he exposed himself to her in college was in a Sept. 23 article in The New Yorker.

 

Kavanaugh was asked by Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, when he first heard of Ramirez’s allegations. Kavanaugh answered: “In the New Yorker story.”

A September 24 text shows Yarasavage clarifying that she did not refute Ramirez’s claims to the New Yorker. Republicans and Kavanaugh have said that his former classmates, who gave an anonymous statement to the New Yorker, have refuted Ramirez’s claim.

 

“I didn’t say I would have known … I said she never told me, I never heard a word of this ever happening and never saw it. The media surmised (that I was saying she is lying),” said Yarasavage.

 

Yarasavage declined to speak to NBC News as did other classmates named in Berchem’s memo who may have information pertinent to the investigation.

Finally, Berchem is concerned about what she witnessed at the 1997 wedding where Ramirez and Kavanaugh were both in the wedding party.

The wedding took place 10 years after Ramirez and Kavanaugh graduated. According to the information Berchem provided, Ramirez tried to avoid Kavanaugh at that wedding of their two friends, Yarasavage and Kevin Genda.

 

Ramirez, “clung to me” at the wedding, Berchem wrote to Yarasavage in a Sept. 24th text message recalling the event. “She never went near them,” a reference to Kavanaugh and his friends. Even in the group photo, Berchem wrote, Ramirez was trying to keep away from Kavanaugh.

 

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/supreme-court/mutual-friend-ramirez-kavanaugh-anxious-come-forward-evidence-n915566

[HerrDrFunk]

3 minutes ago, nuckin_futz said:

Mutual friend of Ramirez and Kavanaugh anxious to come forward with evidence

A former classmate of the Supreme Court nominee has reached out to the FBI but hasn't received a response.

 

 

From left, Deborah Ramirez, Kerry E. Berchem, Doug Millet, Karen Yarasavage, Kevin Genda, Brett Kavanaugh and David White pose for a photo at the rehearsal dinner before the wedding of Yarasavage and Genda in 1997.Photo obtained by NBC News

 

 

WASHINGTON — In the days leading up to a public allegation that Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh exposed himself to a college classmate, the judge and his team were communicating behind the scenes with friends to refute the claim, according to text messages obtained by NBC News.

 

Kerry Berchem, who was at Yale with both Kavanaugh and his accuser, Deborah Ramirez, has attempted to get those messages to the FBI for its newly reopened investigation into the matter but says she has yet to be contacted by the bureau.

 

The texts between Berchem and Karen Yarasavage, both friends of Kavanaugh, suggest that the nominee was personally talking with former classmates about Ramirez’s story in advance of the New Yorker article that made her allegation public. In one message, Yarasavage said Kavanaugh asked her to go on the record in his defense. Two other messages show communication between Kavanaugh's team and former classmates in advance of the story.

 

The texts also demonstrate that Kavanaugh and Ramirez were more socially connected than previously understood and that Ramirez was uncomfortable around Kavanaugh when they saw each other at a wedding 10 years after they graduated. Berchem's efforts also show that some potential witnesses have been unable to get important information through to the FBI.

 

On Monday, a senior U.S. official confirmed that the White House has authorized the FBI to expand its initially limited investigation by interviewing anyone it deems necessary as long as the review is finished by the end of the week. The New York Times first reported the change in scope.

 

NBC News reached out to Berchem for comment after obtaining a copy of a memo she wrote about the text messages. In a statement to NBC News, Berchem, a partner in the law firm Akin Gump, said: “I understand that President Trump and the U.S. Senate have ordered an FBI investigation into certain allegations of sexual misconduct by the nominee Brett Kavanaugh. I have no direct or indirect knowledge about any of the allegations against him.

 

However, I am in receipt of text messages from a mutual friend of both Debbie and mine that raise questions related to the allegations. I have not drawn any conclusions as to what the texts may mean or may not mean but I do believe they merit investigation by the FBI and the Senate. “

 

On Sunday, Berchem emailed FBI agent J.C. McDonough her memo. Since she had not heard back, Monday morning she resent the summary as well as screen shots of certain texts that she thinks raise questions that should be investigated. “I’m sure he’s really busy and expect that he’ll get back to me,” said Berchem.

 

Berchem’s memo outlining her correspondence with Yarasavage shows there’s a circle of Kavanaugh friends who may have pertinent information and evidence relevant to the inquiry who may not be interviewed. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has already set in motion a vote on Kavanaugh’s nomination on the Senate floor for later this week.

 

Kavanaugh has strongly denied the allegation by Ramirez as well as Christine Blasey Ford’s allegation that he sexually assaulted her when the two of them were in high school and claims by Julie Swetnick, who has accused Kavanaugh of engaging in sexual misconduct at parties while he was a student at Georgetown Preparatory School in the 1980s.

 

Berchem, a 51-year-old graduate of Yale and a Connecticut resident, reached out Sen. Richard Blumenthal's office last week. Blumenthal, a Democrat, sits on the Judiciary Committee.

 

“We heard from Kerry late on Thursday and submitted her summary to the Judiciary Committee early Friday,” a spokeswoman for Blumenthal said in a statement to NBC News. “After we were made to jump through several hoops that delayed our moving forward, it became clear that the majority Committee staff had not turned this summary over to the FBI and, in fact, had no intention of turning it over to the FBI. With our assistance, Kerry submitted her summary to the FBI herself.”

 

George Hartmann, a spokesman for Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Grassley said that “The texts from Ms. Bercham do not appear relevant or contradictory to Judge Kavanaugh’s testimony. This appears to be another last-ditch effort to derail the nomination with baseless innuendo by Democrats who have already decided to vote no.”

 

Her texts with Yarasavage shed light on Kavanaugh’s personal contact with friends, including that he obtained a copy of a photograph of a small group of friends from Yale at a 1997 wedding in order to show himself smiling alongside Ramirez ten years after the alleged incident. Kavanaugh was a groomsman and Ramirez a bridesmaid at the wedding.

 

Berchem hired a lawyer on Sunday to help her get her information into the right hands. She has twice sent her memo to the FBI and has yet to hear a response, according to her lawyer, who spoke on condition of anonymity. He flagged two texts in particular.

 

In a series of texts prior to the publication of the New Yorker story, Yarasavage wrote that she had been in contact with “Brett's guy,” and also with “Brett,” who wanted her to go on the record to refute Ramirez. According to Berchem, Yarasavage also told her friend that she turned over a copy of the wedding party photo to Kavanaugh, writing in a text message: “I had to send it to Brett’s team too.”

 

Bob Bauer, former White House counsel for President Barack Obama, said "It would be surprising, and it would certainly be highly imprudent, if at any point Judge Kavanaugh directly contacted an individual believed to have information about allegations like this. A nominee would normally have been counseled to leave to his legal and nominations team the job of following up on any questions arising from press reports or otherwise, and doing so appropriately."

 

Further, the texts show Kavanaugh may need to be questioned about how far back he anticipated Ramirez would air allegations against him. Berchem says, in her memo, that Kavanaugh “and/or” his friends “may have initiated an anticipatory narrative” as early as July to “conceal or discredit” Ramirez.

Kavanaugh told the Senate Judiciary Committee under oath that the first time he heard of his former Yale classmate Deborah Ramirez’s allegation that he exposed himself to her in college was in a Sept. 23 article in The New Yorker.

 

Kavanaugh was asked by Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, when he first heard of Ramirez’s allegations. Kavanaugh answered: “In the New Yorker story.”

A September 24 text shows Yarasavage clarifying that she did not refute Ramirez’s claims to the New Yorker. Republicans and Kavanaugh have said that his former classmates, who gave an anonymous statement to the New Yorker, have refuted Ramirez’s claim.

 

“I didn’t say I would have known … I said she never told me, I never heard a word of this ever happening and never saw it. The media surmised (that I was saying she is lying),” said Yarasavage.

 

Yarasavage declined to speak to NBC News as did other classmates named in Berchem’s memo who may have information pertinent to the investigation.

Finally, Berchem is concerned about what she witnessed at the 1997 wedding where Ramirez and Kavanaugh were both in the wedding party.

The wedding took place 10 years after Ramirez and Kavanaugh graduated. According to the information Berchem provided, Ramirez tried to avoid Kavanaugh at that wedding of their two friends, Yarasavage and Kevin Genda.

 

Ramirez, “clung to me” at the wedding, Berchem wrote to Yarasavage in a Sept. 24th text message recalling the event. “She never went near them,” a reference to Kavanaugh and his friends. Even in the group photo, Berchem wrote, Ramirez was trying to keep away from Kavanaugh.

 

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/supreme-court/mutual-friend-ramirez-kavanaugh-anxious-come-forward-evidence-n915566

If those texts are proven to be accurate, Kavanaugh is done. 

 

At least that's what I'd say if it weren't 2018.

[RUPERTKBD]

Love the "another last ditch effort by the Dems....blah, blah...baseless innuendo...blah, blah".....

 

Always a good idea to stick with the Greatest Hits....

[Gurn]

30 minutes ago, HerrDrFunk said:

If those texts are proven to be accurate, Kavanaugh is done. 

 

At least that's what I'd say if it weren't 2018.

If this were court, I think it would be called witness tampering?

didn't Manafort end up in jail for that, while waiting for his trial?

[HerrDrFunk]

1 minute ago, gurn said:

If this were court, I think it would be called witness tampering?

didn't Manafort end up in jail for that, while waiting for his trial?

Obviously there are differences since Manafort was awaiting trial while Kavanaugh is going through a glorified job interview but yes, Manafort messaged witnesses in his case asking them to revise their testimony. 

 

If the text and timeline are to be believed though, then Kavanaugh lied to the judiciary committee since he claimed to not know about Ramirez' allegations until the story broke while the texts would demonstrate that he knew beforehand and was trying to get ahead of the story. 

[Tortorella's Rant]

Did Kavanaugh drink beer? Did he drink a lot of beer? Did he drink anything aside from beer? 

What the F.

Is this the prohibition era? Who gives a $&!#.

[HerrDrFunk]

2 minutes ago, Tortorella's Rant said:

Did Kavanaugh drink beer? Did he drink a lot of beer? Did he drink anything aside from beer? 

What the F.

Is this the prohibition era? Who gives a $&!#.

Glad to see you've really examined the heart of this issue. 

[nuckin_futz]

Kavanaugh questioned by police after 1985 fight in college bar: report

Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh was reportedly questioned by police in 1985 after he was accused of throwing ice on someone during a college bar fight.

 

The New York Times obtained a report from the New Haven Police Department on Monday dating back to when Kavanaugh was an undergraduate student at Yale University.

 

Kavanaugh, then 21 years old, was questioned along with four other men after an early morning altercation at Demery’s bar in September 1985.

 

Kavanaugh was not arrested but was accused of throwing ice on someone for “some unknown reason,” according to the report obtained by The Times.

 

Kavanaugh did not want “to say if he threw the ice or not” when speaking with officers, according to the report.

 

A witness told police that Chris Dudley, one of Kavanaugh’s friends, also hit the man in the ear with a glass. Dudley denied the accusation.

 

Police noted that the victim, Dom Cozzolino, “was bleeding from the right ear”  and was treated at a local hospital.

 

The newspaper noted that the local bar, known for serving pizza and beer, closed in 1994.

 

The report obtained by The Times lists the altercation as “an assault” but does not indicate if there were ever any arrests or charges filed.

 

The White House did not immediately respond to The Hill’s request for comment on Monday.

 

Dudley did not respond to The Times’ request for comment and Cozzolino declined to comment to the newspaper.

 

Kavanaugh’s drinking habits have been under a spotlight since he was publicly accused of sexual assault by Christine Blasey Ford and two other women.

 

Ford testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee last week and alleged a drunken Kavanaugh assaulted her during a summer house party in the 1980s when they were both high school students.

 

Deborah Ramirez, the second woman to come forward with accusations against Kavanaugh, has reportedly spoken with the FBI as part of its additional investigation into the judge.

 

Ramirez told The New Yorker last week that Kavanaugh exposed himself to her at a dorm party at Yale University in the 1980s, causing her to touch his penis when she pushed him.

 

A third woman, Julie Swetnick, claims that Kavanaugh attended a party where she was drugged with "Quaaludes or something similar" and attacked by a series of men in a "gang rape."

 

Kavanaugh has denied all of the allegations against him. 

 

The nominee testified under oath that he had never blacked out or passed out due to alcohol consumption.

 

Chad Ludington, a man who attended Yale with Kavanaugh, told The Times on Sunday that Kavanaugh had mischaracterized his alcohol consumption during his testimony.

 

Ludington said he saw Kavanaugh "staggering from alcohol consumption" multiple times, describing him as a "belligerent and aggressive" drunk.

 

"It is truth that is at stake, and I believe that the ability to speak the truth, even when it does not reflect well upon oneself, is a paramount quality we seek in our nation’s most powerful judges,” Ludington said in a statement, according to the Times. 

 

The White House on Monday released statements from Dan Murphy and Chris Dudley, Kavanaugh's former suitemate and classmate respectively, who said they never saw Kavanaugh black out from drinking.

 

https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/409375-kavanaugh-questioned-by-police-after-1985-fight-in-college-bar-report

Edited October 2, 2018 by nuckin_futz

[Tortorella's Rant]

2 hours ago, HerrDrFunk said:

Glad to see you've really examined the heart of this issue. 

I have. He is not on trial for consumption or volume of consumption. Also, whatever weight people think it may hold is ultimately unprovable. As are the claims of sexual assault. 

[HerrDrFunk]

Just now, Tortorella's Rant said:

I have. He is not on trial for consumption or volume of consumption. Also, whatever weight people think it may hold is ultimately unprovable. As are the claims of sexual assault. 

Me and my best friend in the world once got into a fist fight when we were both $&!#faced. When we woke up the next morning, we both laughed and agreed it was stupid and went on with our lives. Over consumption makes people do things they may not normally do. So I'd say it's relevant.

[Tortorella's Rant]

1 minute ago, HerrDrFunk said:

Me and my best friend in the world once got into a fist fight when we were both $&!#faced. When we woke up the next morning, we both laughed and agreed it was stupid and went on with our lives. Over consumption makes people do things they may not normally do. So I'd say it's relevant.

Well, like I said, good luck demonstrating someone "consumed too much", which by the way is subjective, 35 years ago. Eye witness testimony is already one of the most unreliable forms of evidence - eye witness account of people whom were also drinking. 

[HerrDrFunk]

2 minutes ago, Tortorella's Rant said:

Well, like I said, good luck demonstrating someone "consumed too much", which by the way is subjective, 35 years ago. Eye witness testimony is already one of the most unreliable forms of evidence - eye witness account of people whom were also drinking. 

I'm not disputing any of that but I'd say Kavanaugh's reactions to being asked some basic questions about beer (freaking beer, not hard liquor) consumption leads me to believe he's lying.

[Ryan Strome]

24 minutes ago, HerrDrFunk said:

I'm not disputing any of that but I'd say Kavanaugh's reactions to being asked some basic questions about beer (freaking beer, not hard liquor) consumption leads me to believe he's lying.

I think it's clear he is lying It's to bad this whole thing is all political. Imo the right thing to do is pick someone else.

[nuckin_futz]

This whole thing has morphed into something else. Take the assault allegations and toss them in the trash. I'm not saying they belong there but humor me.

 

Kavanaugh lied so many times in his Senate testimony it was a joke. That alone is disqualifying.

 

Remember 20 years ago when Clinton said "I did not have sexual relations with that woman?" He was just playing around with the definition of a word. Getting oral and depositing his baby batter on her dress was sexual relations to most people.

 

Kavanaugh's answer that he never passed out, but instead he went to sleep is just as dishonest and frankly stupid. To me going to sleep is going home, putting on your pj's and getting into bed. Sleeping where you fell is passing out, not going to sleep.

 

Clinton lost his law license over that one. But someone how Kavanaugh will probably end up on the Supreme Court. It would be funny if it were not so sad.

[ForsbergTheGreat]

1 hour ago, HerrDrFunk said:

Me and my best friend in the world once got into a fist fight when we were both $&!#faced. When we woke up the next morning, we both laughed and agreed it was stupid and went on with our lives. Over consumption makes people do things they may not normally do. So I'd say it's relevant.

Comparing a fist fight to sexual assault?  Are you saying that because you have got drunk before you are also capable of sexual assault because that's the exact assumption you're making. Two very very different situations..  Just because a guy appears to have had some fun and partied a bit in uni doesn't have any impact on determining if he's ever attempted raping someone, that's a very far jump people are trying to make.  What's next, should we scrape his internet history and see what sites he's ever visited.  

 

The fact is, this case is about sexual assault, not about how many girlfriends he's had, or if he ever got sent to the principles office, this is a very serious case and should be taken serious.  If he's proven guilty, throw the book at him, I have no sympathy of rapist....but we can't throw the book at someone unless there is undeniable evidence that they are guilty.  What happens if he is truly innocent, do people really care about the truth? sure doesn't seem like it with the way people have ran his name through the mud.   There's a reason we have the innocent until proven guilty, because if we didn't and times reverted back to hearsay, we'd really have witch hunts, but instead of people screaming "she's a witch burn her" it becomes "rape, destroy him".  Is that the world we want to live in?

 

I find it very ironic that here in Canada a story comes out about our own PM sexual assaulting a women and it's written off as nothing because we don't have enough info.  That's despite having an exact location, date and a published record of it within the timeline it occurred.  In this case we don't have an exact date, location, it wasn't mention of until 30ish years later and the accuser doesn't even remember how she got home.  For all we know she was on a bad acid trip having some very vivid hallucinations, i'm sure some of you here can relate.   

 

[HerrDrFunk]

1 hour ago, Ryan Strome said:

I think it's clear he is lying It's to bad this whole thing is all political. Imo the right thing to do is pick someone else.

I absolutely agree. This has been politicized in a very ugly manner but it's not like there's a dearth of conservative judges who could easily be swapped in for Kavanaugh. 

[Heretic]

38 minutes ago, HerrDrFunk said:

I absolutely agree. This has been politicized in a very ugly manner but it's not like there's a dearth of conservative judges who could easily be swapped in for Kavanaugh. 

That's what I don't understand - why is this even at this level?

 

If he sexually assaulted someone - it should be under investigation by the police - not in some hearing.

[HerrDrFunk]

10 minutes ago, ForsbergTheGreat said:

Comparing a fist fight to sexual assault?  Are you saying that because you have got drunk before you are also capable of sexual assault because that's the exact assumption you're making. Two very very different situations..  Just because a guy appears to have had some fun and partied a bit in uni doesn't have any impact on determining if he's ever attempted raping someone, that's a very far jump people are trying to make.  What's next, should we scrape his internet history and see what sites he's ever visited.  

 

The fact is, this case is about sexual assault, not about how many girlfriends he's had, or if he ever got sent to the principles office, this is a very serious case and should be taken serious.  If he's proven guilty, throw the book at him, I have no sympathy of rapist....but we can't throw the book at someone unless there is undeniable evidence that they are guilty.  What happens if he is truly innocent, do people really care about the truth? sure doesn't seem like it with the way people have ran his name through the mud.   There's a reason we have the innocent until proven guilty, because if we didn't and times reverted back to hearsay, we'd really have witch hunts, but instead of people screaming "she's a witch burn her" it becomes "rape, destroy him".  Is that the world we want to live in?

 

I find it very ironic that here in Canada a story comes out about our own PM sexual assaulting a women and it's written off as nothing because we don't have enough info.  That's despite having an exact location, date and a published record of it within the timeline it occurred.  In this case we don't have an exact date, location, it wasn't mention of until 30ish years later and the accuser doesn't even remember how she got home.  For all we know she was on a bad acid trip having some very vivid hallucinations, i'm sure some of you here can relate.   

 

Well, well, well; it's @ForsbergTheGreat's latest brush with gob$&!#ery. 

 

Perhaps if you'd bothered to actually absorb any of what I had written rather than applying your (let's politely call them basic-ass?) views, you'd realize I wasn't saying a fist fight is the same as sexual assault? Instead, maybe you would have recognized that I was saying when I was younger, over consumption of alcohol lead me to do something absolutely insipid that I wouldn't have normally done? Unless of course in your life it's normal to come to real blows over a game of bloody knuckles? 

 

Here's the difference between me and Kavanaugh though, if I were under oath and being asked about my alcohol consumption as a teen; I wouldn't have to stumble through my answers and defensively ask a US senator if she'd ever been black out drunk.

 

This also isn't a trial; when you boil it all down, it's a job interview for an incredibly important position. I'm not saying "Lock him up!" but between his temperament during his testimony, and possibly perjuring himself as well, I'd say he's not suitable to be one of the highest judges in the nation.

[HerrDrFunk]

3 minutes ago, Heretic said:

That's what I don't understand - why is this even at this level?

 

If he sexually assaulted someone - it should be under investigation by the police - not in some hearing.

I agree. I think the FBI should have conducted it's investigation, presented its findings to the judiciary committee; then had Kavanaugh and Ford to give their testimony.