Note: As Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell continues to push for a quick vote on the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh, protests are escalating and Kavanough is being caught in lies. His story denying the allegations at Yale are unraveling.
The most important breakthrough maybe Jeff Flake and Susan Collins called for a real investigation by the FBI. Flake said, “It does no good to have an investigation that just gives us more cover, for example. We actually need to find out what we can find out.” This occurred after more than one thousand people showed up at an event where Senator Flake was speaking, supporting his call for an FBI investigation and urging him to vote against Kavanaugh’s confirmation.
There have also been large protests in New York City against Kavanaugh’s nomination.
Scores of demonstrators protesting #Kavanaugh streaming down Broadway in NYC pic.twitter.com/aMun56K37m
— ? Mark Helenowski (@MarkHelenowski) October 1, 2018
By the end of the day it seemed President Trump authorized the FBI to interview any witnesses they saw fit consistent with the desires of the Republicans in the Senate. That latter phrase is worrying as the Republican leadership does not want any new information about Kavanough’s drinking, sexual aggressiveness or dishonesty coming out.
The Democrats sent a letter that they made public listing 24 people that the FBI should interview as part of the investigation. The letter was sent to White House counsel Don McGahn and FBI Director Christopher Wray. They also want want McGahn and Wray to “notify us of the scope of the investigation and what the White House directed the FBI to investigate.”
Mark Judge, Kavanaugh’s close friend who refused to testify before the Judiciary Committee has been interviewed by the FBI. There is no information on the questions asked or the answered given by Judge
The third accuser, Julie Swetnick, who has not yet been interviewed by the FBI, appeared on NBC to tell her story about rape and abuse of women at parties she attended. She said Brett Kavanaugh was with boys who were raping women.
Protesters are also pushing the Democrats to file charges against Kavanough for perjury since he seems to have lied under oath multiple times. We urged House Democrats to file Articles of Impeachment against Kavanaugh before the allegations of sexual assault came up based on his seeming perjury before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
More Yale classmates of Kavanough are coming forward to report on his abusive drinking and aggressive behavior when he was drunk. James Roche — one of Brett Kavanaugh’s freshman year roommates at Yale — tweeted today that the FBI has never contacted him for any of his background checks even though he has described Kavanough as “aggressive and belligerent when he was very drunk.” This is completely inconsistent with Kavanough’s testimony before the Judiciary Committee. The New York Times reported that police investigated a bar fight that began when a drunk Brett Kavanough threw ice at someone in the bar, resulting in his friend being arrested. And, a friend at Yale reported on text messages she received before the New Yorker reported on Debbie Ramirez’s allegations. The messages from Brett and his friends were trying to get people to undermine Ramirez’s story. Before the Judiciary Committee Kavanough testified he did not know of the allegations until the New Yorker article was published.
A Quinnipiac poll has found growing opposition to the confirmation of Kavanaugh, with 48% opposing Kavanaugh’s confirmation, up from 42% in early September. Opposition among female voters is higher, with 55% opposing his confirmation, a jump from 47% before the hearing.
Republican Senators Dodge Women’s Questions About Sexual Assault
Majority Leader Mitch McConnell ignored women, then shook a random man’s hand. Sen. David Perdue hid in a bathroom.
On Monday, female activists at an airport in Washington, D.C., approached several Republican senators ― including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell ― to ask questions about sexual assault and Brett Kavanaugh, the Supreme Court nominee who’s been accused by three women of sexual misconduct.
The men were less than thrilled.
McConnell looked straight ahead and kept marching forward while three women trailed him, attempting to engage him on the issue. He didn’t respond at all, but he did briefly pause to shake the hand of a male onlooker.
“It is really telling that you shook the hand of a man while a woman is trying to tell you her story,” Tracey Corder, the racial justice campaign director at the Center for Popular Democracy, said to McConnell as she stood behind him on an escalator at Washington’s Reagan National Airport.
“We would like to know if you believe survivors of sexual violence?” asked Naina Khanna, the executive director of Positive Women’s Network USA, one of many activists trying to speak to senators ahead of the confirmation vote on Kavanaugh.
“Sen. McConnell, do you always turn your back on women like this?” Khanna asked as the senator faced other questions from activists while he rode the escalator.
“Sen. McConnell, will you support a full FBI investigation?” she asked as she followed him outside the terminal.
How many stories does @senatemajldr need before he finally believes women like @traceyecorder & @nainadevi ? pic.twitter.com/BSF85xMMHH
— Ady Barkan?? (@AdyBarkan) October 1, 2018
“We walked up to him respectfully. We really wanted to ask him about his vote and how he felt,” Corder told HuffPost on Monday. “This is three women of color trying to talk to him. He saw a white man and instantly shook his hand. That felt pretty hurtful.”
A video of Flake (R-Ariz.) being confronted by two sexual assault survivors in an elevator in the Capitol last week likely prompted the senator to change his position on Kavanaugh, asking for a delayed vote on the Supreme Court nominee so that the FBI could look into the sexual assault allegation.
Women’s groups have been trying to talk to senators about Kavanaugh for weeks, Corder said. But it was the Flake video that really drew attention to their campaign.
The idea is to talk to and question any senator who is either undecided on Kavanaugh or who hasn’t yet staked out a position. “If we can’t get someone from their office to answer questions,” Corder said, “we’re going to go somewhere we can find them.”
Corder’s progressive advocacy group posted videos of other Republican senators dodging their questions.
“How can you ignore women who have been assaulted?” they asked Sen. David Perdue (R-Ga.). When Isela Blanc, a Democratic state representative from Arizona, introduces herself to him and tries to shake his hand, Perdue says, “Don’t touch me.”
The questions continued, and, clearly frustrated, Perdue took a hard right and went into the men’s room, where they couldn’t follow.
“Fine. You don’t want to be touched. Yeah, neither do women,” CPD tweeted Monday afternoon.
WATCH: @sendavidperdue refuses to shake hands with survivors who are trying to share their stories with him. “Don’t touch me” he says when our co-ed @jeppsaddison reaches out.
Fine. You don’t want to be touched. Yeah, neither do women. #Stopkavanaugh#CancelKavanaugh pic.twitter.com/Vmq5vzxECx
— CPD Action (@CPDAction) October 1, 2018
Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) did engage somewhat with the women, telling the activists, “I always attempt to do the right thing.”
“What do you have to say to your constituents who suffer from sexual violence?” asked Jasmine Henderson, a member of the Women’s March of Ohio.
“My heart goes out to anybody who’s been affected,” Corker said. But as he left the airport, Corker was less tactful, seeming to imply that these women were having fun talking to him.
“I know this is enjoyable to y’all,” Corker said. “Thank you so much. I appreciate it.”
“I know this is fun for y’all” @SenBobCorker tells two survivors of Sexual assault including our own @traceyecorder. He thinks it’s fun for women to share their stories of assault & rape. No Senator, we assure you it’s not. #cancelkavanaugh #stopkavanaugh #believesurvivors pic.twitter.com/UF2KXjPEMc
— CPD Action (@CPDAction) October 1, 2018
The idea that they were just doing this for kicks was insulting to CPD’s Corder, who said that, like many survivors of assault, she cried as she watched Blasey’s testimony Thursday.
“This is hard. Emotional and raw. This is something that traumatizes you every day.”