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Uh, Did Anyone Catch This Glaring Plot Hole In The Latest Accusation Against Kavanaugh?; UPDATE: Another Shoe To Drop?

Matt Vespa
Matt Vespa  |  September 24, 2018 6:15 AM

It’s going to be an ugly week, folks. On Sunday, the anti-Kavanaugh forces lobbed two grenades, with more women coming forward with sexual misconduct allegations against the judge. Brett Kavanaugh is President Trump’s Supreme Court pick to fill the vacancy left by the now-retired Anthony Kennedy. It looked like a smooth ride, despite a contentious and at times rambunctious hearing process. The vote was set—and the GOP had the votes to get him through. But the Democrats brought Christine Blasey Ford, who accused Kavanaugh of an attempted sexual assault. It’s a serious charge, but one filled with holes. Ford cannot remember how this party came about, whose house it was in, and how she got there. All witnesses she cited in her account have refuted her story, including her friend Leland Keyser who doesn’t even know Kavanaugh and said that she was never at any party or event with him present…with or without Ms. Ford, mind you. The Senate Judiciary Committee and Ms. Ford’s lawyers are still haggling over details of her testimony, but now these new allegations will bring more chaos to this process. Enter Deborah Ramirez, who has a rather graphic account of what Mr. Kavanaugh allegedly did as a student at Yale. Kavanaugh has denied both allegations (via The New Yorker):

The woman at the center of the story, Deborah Ramirez, who is fifty-three, attended Yale with Kavanaugh, where she studied sociology and psychology. Later, she spent years working for an organization that supports victims of domestic violence. The New Yorker contacted Ramirez after learning of her possible involvement in an incident involving Kavanaugh. The allegation was conveyed to Democratic senators by a civil-rights lawyer. For Ramirez, the sudden attention has been unwelcome, and prompted difficult choices. She was at first hesitant to speak publicly, partly because her memories contained gaps because she had been drinking at the time of the alleged incident. In her initial conversations with The New Yorker, she was reluctant to characterize Kavanaugh’s role in the alleged incident with certainty. After six days of carefully assessing her memories and consulting with her attorney, Ramirez said that she felt confident enough of her recollectionsto say that she remembers Kavanaugh had exposed himself at a drunken dormitory party, thrust his penis in her face, and caused her to touch it without her consent as she pushed him away. Ramirez is now calling for the F.B.I. to investigate Kavanaugh’s role in the incident. “I would think an F.B.I. investigation would be warranted,” she said.

In a statement, Kavanaugh wrote, “This alleged event from 35 years ago did not happen. The people who knew me then know that this did not happen, and have said so. This is a smear, plain and simple. I look forward to testifying on Thursday about the truth, and defending my good name—and the reputation for character and integrity I have spent a lifetime building—against these last-minute allegations.”

[…]

Ramirez said that, when both she and Kavanaugh were freshmen at Yale, she was invited by a friend on the women’s soccer team to a dorm-room party. She recalled that the party took place in a suite at Lawrance Hall, in the part of Yale known as Old Campus, and that a small group of students decided to play a drinking game together. “We were sitting in a circle,” she said. “People would pick who drank.” Ramirez was chosen repeatedly, she said, and quickly became inebriated. At one point, she said, a male student pointed a gag plastic penis in her direction. Later, she said, she was on the floor, foggy and slurring her words, as that male student and another stood nearby. (Ramirez identified the two male onlookers, but, at her request, The New Yorker is not naming them.)

A third male student then exposed himself to her. “I remember a penis being in front of my face,” she said. “I knew that’s not what I wanted, even in that state of mind.” She recalled remarking, “That’s not a real penis,” and the other students laughing at her confusion and taunting her, one encouraging her to “kiss it.” She said that she pushed the person away, touching it in the process. Ramirez, who was raised a devout Catholic, in Connecticut, said that she was shaken. “I wasn’t going to touch a penis until I was married,” she said. “I was embarrassed and ashamed and humiliated.” She remembers Kavanaugh standing to her right and laughing, pulling up his pants. “Brett was laughing,” she said. “I can still see his face, and his hips coming forward, like when you pull up your pants.” She recalled another male student shouting about the incident. “Somebody yelled down the hall, ‘Brett Kavanaugh just put his penis in Debbie’s face,’ ” she said. “It was his full name. I don’t think it was just ‘Brett.’ And I remember hearing and being mortified that this was out there.”

Ramirez acknowledged that there are significant gaps in her memories of the evening, and that, if she ever presents her story to the F.B.I. or members of the Senate, she will inevitably be pressed on her motivation for coming forward after so many years, and questioned about her memory, given her drinking at the party.

Yeah, before we get to those motivations let’s circle back to this sentence, which was also highlighted by other members of the media, both left and right: “After six days of carefully assessing her memories and consulting with her attorney, Ramirez said that she felt confident enough of her recollections.” Excuse me? So, once again, there’s no evidence. Just an unprovable allegation, which like Ford’s tale, seems pre-packaged to demand a delay—and you bet they’re going to get it. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), who lit the fuse to this bomb, had Ford’s letter detailing her account for weeks; her office received it in July. But she never told anyone, not even her Senate colleagues about it. Maybe it’s because Ford’s allegation, which is also evidence-free and 30-plus years old, is simply too old to be truly verified. At the same time, the aura of the unknown and the media frenzy it will spark will build pressure on Republicans to delay the nomination until after the midterms, in which the Democrats hope to be in a better political position on the Hill. Oh, and they want to browbeat the FBI, an executive branch agency, to do their dirty work with an investigation that will draw nothing conclusive. But it will delay the vote. That’s what’s so odious about this charade. The Left is using potentially false allegations against a man because they don’t like him to destroy him, derail his nomination, and they want the FBI to help them, an agency that was not up until recently the institution that cost Hillary Clinton the 2016 election. 

And now, the main course—there are multiple witnesses that Ramirez cites in her account that don’t remember this event, not even her friend who she says they share very personal details about each other’s lives. Oh, and you’ll love the bit about she’s a registered Democrat, but is not politically motivated…only that she’s totally politically motivated:

The New Yorker has not confirmed with other eyewitnesses that Kavanaugh was present at the party.

[…]

One of the male classmates who Ramirez said egged on Kavanaugh denied any memory of the party. “I don’t think Brett would flash himself to Debbie, or anyone, for that matter,” he said. Asked why he thought Ramirez was making the allegation, he responded, “I have no idea.” The other male classmate who Ramirez said was involved in the incident commented, “I have zero recollection.”

In a statement, two of those male classmates who Ramirez alleged were involved in the incident, the wife of a third male student she said was involved, and three other classmates, Dino Ewing, Louisa Garry, and Dan Murphy, disputed Ramirez’s account of events: “We were the people closest to Brett Kavanaugh during his first year at Yale. He was a roommate to some of us, and we spent a great deal of time with him, including in the dorm where this incident allegedly took place. Some of us were also friends with Debbie Ramirez during and after her time at Yale. We can say with confidence that if the incident Debbie alleges ever occurred, we would have seen or heard about it—and we did not.

[…]

In a statement, two of those male classmates who Ramirez alleged were involved in the incident, the wife of a third male student she said was involved, and three other classmates, Dino Ewing, Louisa Garry, and Dan Murphy, disputed Ramirez’s account of events: “We were the people closest to Brett Kavanaugh during his first year at Yale. He was a roommate to some of us, and we spent a great deal of time with him, including in the dorm where this incident allegedly took place. Some of us were also friends with Debbie Ramirez during and after her time at Yale. We can say with confidence that if the incident Debbie alleges ever occurred, we would have seen or heard about it—and we did not. The behavior she describes would be completely out of character for Brett. In addition, some of us knew Debbie long after Yale, and she never described this incident until Brett’s Supreme Court nomination was pending.

[…]

Ramirez is a registered Democrat, but said that her decision to speak out was not politically motivated and, regarding her views, that she “works toward human rights, social justice, and social change.” Ramirez said that she felt “disappointed and betrayed” by the statements from classmates questioning her allegation, “because I clearly remember people in the room whose names are on this letter.”

Wait—did she take six days to figure out what was going on? It’s the same movie. We have a liberal woman lobbing a 30-plus year allegation at an eminently qualified judge without evidence, with witnesses who refute the claim, and it’s possible that this event never happened in the first place. For the second allegation, there’s no second corroborative witness saying a) this happened or b) that Kavanaugh was at this particular social gathering. This allegation has just as many holes as Ford’s allegation. The timing is suspect. It will always be suspect. Oh, and the latest shoe to possibly drop coming from Michael Avenatti, who has represented adult film star Stormy Daniels and her lawsuit against President Trump. Now, he allegedly has a woman who wants to testify that Mr. Kavanaugh and Mark Judge, who was named in the Ford accusation, held multiple house parties in the D.C. areas during the 1980s, where they participated “in the targeting of women with alcohol/drugs in order to allow a ‘train’ of men to subsequently gang rape them.” 

Folks, we said this was going to get ugly and messy—and it’s only Monday. The street fight for the Supreme Court is about to begin. The Democrats have a wartime mindset. The GOP needs to be on a war footing as well. They need to not cave to the growing social media mob. There’s little confidence that they can, however, and that should make GOP voters nervous. The line could falter this week. 

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