Tornado Alley (PROG)

[fuagf]

Shields and Brooks on Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation in question

"Brett Kavanaugh’s habit of dissembling makes it hard to take his word over Ford’s"

PBS NewsHour
Published on Sep 28, 2018

Fallout from sexual assault allegations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh threw American politics into upheaval this
week. Syndicated columnist Mark Shields and New York Times columnist David Brooks join Judy Woodruff to discuss the testimonies
of Dr. Christine Blasey Ford and Judge Kavanaugh, how partisanship is recasting our politics and a moral reckoning around sexual abuse.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6K75eeRyYY

Jeff Flake did the right thing by everyone. Including Kavanaugh. Mark Shields is solid as
always. David Brooks as often somewhat wishy-washy, umm, foot in both camps positions.

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George Stephanopoulos Rips Kavanaugh for 'Bizarre' Behavior, Suggests FBI Probe Could Become 'Farce'

Q Tv
Published on Sep 30, 2018

George Stephanopoulos Rips Kavanaugh for 'Bizarre' Behavior, Suggests FBI Probe Could Become 'Farce'

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-BaFC_YWiTo

I was surprised and disappointed on hearing, then reading (see below), a suggestion the FBI investigation was limited by White House
direction, which i would't have thought would be either appropriate or possible. Hope it's not true. Noted, Lindsay graham loves the idea.

Related:

FBI 'immediately moves to interview other Kavanaugh accuser' as probe starts of Trump's Supreme Court nominee

Agents have been given seven days to complete investigation

VIDEO

Andrew Buncombe
Washington DC @AndrewBuncombe
1 day ago
68 comments

The Independent US

FBI agents have immediately reached out to other women who accused Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee of sexual abuse of misconduct, it has been reported.

Mr Trump ordered the FBI to carry out a supplemental investigation that was “limited in scope” in order to update Brett Kavanaugh’s file. Within hours of doing so, agents were reportedly contacting the lawyers for at least one of two other women to have accused the 53-year-old judge of misconduct. Investigators said they would like to interview her “as early as tonight”, according to the Los Angeles Times. Her lawyers instead agreed to an an alternative time, possibly over the weekend.

The New York Times said the woman contacted by the bureau’s agents was Deborah Ramirez, 53, from Boulder, Colorado, who said Mr Kavanaugh had exposed himself to her and forced his penis in front of her face during a drunken dormitory party at Yale University 35 years ago. Ms Ramirez’s lawyer, John Clune, this week told reporters she was wiling to testify about the alleged incident. Mr Clune did not respond to enquiries.

Watch more
Would Kavanaugh’s evasive testimony be allowed in his own courtroom?
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/brett-kavanaugh-hearing-supreme-court-nominee-vote-republicans-christine-ford-a8560856.html

Meanwhile, Michael Avenatti, who represents a third accuser, Julie Smetnick, revealed he had been practically pleading with the Senate Judiciary Committee to hear from his client.

Ms Smetnick has said she was present at up to 10 parties in Maryland in the 1980s where Mr Kavanaugh and a friend, Mark Ford, drugged young women to prepare them for gang rapes. The two men have denied this claim.

In an email sent on Friday to Mike Davis, counsel to the senate committee, Mr Avenatti wrote: “In light of Senator Flake’s comments moments ago, please let us know when we can meet with the FBI and provide the facts and evidence supporting my client’s sworn declaration. Time is of the essence.”

On Saturday afternoon, NBC reported the White House had directed the FBI to limit its probe to the claims of Ms Ford and Ms Ramirez, and not to include the accusations of Ms Smetnick. Mr Avenatti said on Twitter: “If true, this is outrageous. Why are Trump and his cronies in the Senate trying to prevent the American people from learning the truth? Why do they insist on muzzling women with information submitted under penalty of perjury? Why Ramirez but not my client?”

A spokesperson for the FBI told The Independent it was referring all enquiries to the White House, which did not immediately respond.

Links and more - https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/kavanaugh-fbi-investigation-accuser-supreme-court-vote-christine-blasey-ford-a8561201.html