Please take a moment to reacquaint yourself with the fact that Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) -- the man who's been preening about the importance of comprehensive honesty in recent days -- spent his entire political career lying to voters about serving in a war. Then he got caught. Then he got re-elected. With that in mind, watch as he casually sullies the FBI's updated background investigation into Judge Kavanaugh because he's bitter that it didn't serve the partisan outcome he sought:
"I have seen it and I want to re-read parts of it, but my very emphatic opinion is that this set of interviews is at best, most charitably, woefully incomplete. To put it bluntly, it smacks of a whitewash, even a cover up."
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) October 4, 2018
– Sen. Richard Blumenthalhttps://t.co/1xvNxgv2mC
The evidence for this supposed "cover up" can be found right next to Blumenthal's Vietnam War records, and in the same drawer as all the corroboration of the accusations against Judge Kavanaugh. Meanwhile, with other Democrats echoing this pathetic, predictable talking point, here's the other half of Hillary Clinton's failed ticket declaring the Bureau's work a "complete sham," clutching pearls over the fact that it took a mere five days to complete:
This process was wrapped up in just *5 days,* despite the many witnesses pleading to share relevant information who were ignored by the FBI.
— Tim Kaine (@timkaine) October 4, 2018
Goodness gracious, the Bad Faithers bellow, this only took five days!? Are these people hoping that no one will remember their own arguments from just a few days ago? Senate Democrats put out a press release on September 23 demanding FBI involvement in the Kavanaugh matter. Part of the precedent they eagerly cited was the Anita Hill/Clarence Thomas background probe, conducted in 1991. Setting aside substantive differences between the two situations, the Democrats' missive included these lines:
"It Only Took the FBI Three Days to Complete Their Investigation of Professors Anita Hill’s Allegations of Sexual Harassment so The FBI Has Ample Time to Investigate Dr. Ford’s Allegations...On the same day that President George W. Bush received this request, the White House Counsel directed the FBI to investigate, which then produced a report only three days later to the Senate, prior to the Judiciary Committee’s second round of hearings on the nomination.
They meant George H.W. Bush, of course, but facts and accuracy aren't exactly paramount these days. Meanwhile, here's Schumer on September 26th, dismissing Republican concerns that an FBI probe would amount to a serious delay: "We haven't heard one actual reason why there shouldn't be an FBI investigation. Will it slow it down? It will take only a few days." To recap, the Democrats argued that the FBI alone could do this job. The Judiciary Committee could not. Letters from fact witnesses, submitted under penalty of perjury, were insufficient. It was the Bureau, or bust. Republicans, worried about another delay tactic, noted that an updated background check wouldn't be a full-scale criminal probe, and would simply gather statements -- which is exactly what happened in 1991. Never fear, Democrats replied, it'll be very short. And the FBI knows what they're doing.
And now, like clockwork, they're pulling a transparently cynical and partisan about-face. It only lasted a few days! They didn't interview all the hearsay "witnesses" we wanted them to! This is a sham! These people are dishonorable and not to be trusted. They got what they wanted, at least in theory; what they actually wanted, however, was a blow to Kavanaugh's viability. When the FBI failed to serve up their preferred partisan result, they howled and threw the Bureau under the bus -- after weeks of loudly insisting that only the Bureau could perform this task. Now, of a sudden, the FBI is part of a conspiratorial Trumpian cover-up, or whatever. And all of this is coming from the party that sat on Dr. Ford's uncorroborated accusation for two months, then leaked it against her wishes, at an opportune partisan moment. Shameless.
By the way, the White House instructed the FBI to interview whomever they saw fit. The FBI saw fit to question numerous witnesses, including key fact witnesses endlessly mentioned by Democrats. Mark Judge reportedly spent three hours with agents. They didn't question Kavanaugh or Ford because each of them had put their entire accounts on the record in lengthy public testimony just a few days prior, including lengthy Q&A sessions. They didn't interview people with no direct knowledge of the alleged incidents in question. They did their job, and Democrats are furious. I'll leave you with a crucial GOP Senator calling the process "thorough," and a CNN anchor (and Obama alum) shrugging that being accused of organizing a gang rape cult -- with Senate Democrats explicitly amplifying and legitimizing that outlandish, unverified, and dismantled claim -- is just part of the normal political process:
Sen. Collins: FBI follow-up probe “appears to be a very thorough investigation.”
— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) October 4, 2018
This is absolutely deranged. @CNN anchor (and former Obama official) Jim Sciutto asserts that gang rape allegations are just "politics" and come with the territory of being nominated to SCOTUS. https://t.co/3MBufOqnC6 pic.twitter.com/XmiCRbWm6N
— Amber Athey (@amber_athey) October 4, 2018
Incidentally, I absolutely stand by my recommendation that the GOP approve this delay for a short FBI investigation, for reasons I'll outline in another piece. This course of action was never going to satisfy the hardcore lefties or Bad Faithers. Its intended audience was a different group of Americans.