Recently, ranking Senate Judiciary Committee member Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) was sent a letter from Democratic Congresswoman Anna Eshoo (CA-18), who received it from someone affiliated with Stanford University, which entailed an alleged incident between Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh and a female with whom he went to high school in suburban Maryland decades ago. Days after the news of the mystery letter surfaced, its author has finally been revealed.
The Washington Post reports that Christine Blasey Ford, a clinical psychology professor at Palo Alto University in California, wrote the formerly confidential letter charging that Judge Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her, with the article on the alleged incident stating that Ford feared for her life and that Kavanaugh “might inadvertently kill me.”
CNN reported the full text of letter sent to Senator Feinstein. Ford stated in letter:
“Brett Kavanaugh physically and sexually assaulted me during high school in the early 1980’s. He conducted these acts with the assistance of REDACTED.”
The allegations have drawn a blanket denial from Judge Kavanaugh who has stated, “I categorically and unequivocally deny this allegation. I did not do this back in high school or at any time.” The situation has continued the roiling nomination process that has made the confirmation hearings of nominees Robert Bork in the late 1980s and Clarence Thomas in the early 1990s look like an absolute cakewalk.
One interesting development that occurred today detailed that Ford, not herself but her family, has another connection to Judge Kavanaugh, not himself but his family. An article from Powerline details the narrative discussed on the Rush Limbaugh Show today that ties together the families of Ford and Kavanaugh. Court documents show that Judge Martha Kavanaugh, Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s mother, ruled against Ralph and Paula Blasey, Christine Blasey Ford’s parents, in a foreclosure case over 20 years ago.
A few details of the 1996 case over which Judge Martha Kavanaugh presided were relayed via Twitter, containing mostly embedded tweets from a the user, but also two screenshots from Maryland’s case search site. Laura Ingraham also tweeted out a story from America First Media Group that details the development.
According to a report from Mediaite, the foreclosure case “was dismissed before the judge had to rule on it,” and the property “is still in the family’s name.”
The Daily Caller stated that public records show that at the end of the case, adjudicated in the Montgomery County Circuit Court system, Judge Martha Kavanaugh “did not rule on decisions related to possible seizure of the property. Rather, it appears the Blaseys reached a settlement with their bank before their property was lost.”
As well, it was reported that Judge Martha Kavanaugh “granted uncontested motions brought by UMLIC [United Mortgage & Loan Investment Corporation] to dismiss the case after the settlement was reached,” which appears to be the extent of her involvement in the matter.
Furthermore, on the grounds of person political affiliation, Fox News reports that Ford is a “registered Democrat who has given small monetary donations to political causes,” donating to ActBlue, a non-profit group that aims to help Democrats and progressive candidates. She has also given money to the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and Friends of Bernie Sanders, according to filing reports from the FEC.
Ford is also one of the thousands of medical professional signatories who supported a Physicians for Human Rights letter in June decrying the practice of separating children from their parents at the U.S.-Mexico border and urging the Trump Administration to cease the actions.
Additionally, there are pictures surfacing on the Internet with Ford attending rallies wearing a pink “brain cap,” those that were inspired by pink “p**** hats,” which are often worn at women’s groups marches, alluding to increased levels of her left-leaning political activism in the Trump era.
Another interesting twist in the story as told by the Pacific Pundit is that Ralph Blasey III, Ford’s brother, was formerly employed at the Washington, D.C., offices of Baker & Hostetler LLP – the same firm that made payments of over $500,000 to Fusion GPS.
Fusion GPS is the research firm that paid former British spy Christopher Steele to conduct reconnaissance on then-presidential candidate Donald Trump. However, the article states that Ralph Blasey III was not employed by Baker & Hostetler at the time of the “Steele dossier” formulation, which posited that then-candidate Trump was colluding with Russian officials to sway the 2016 election.
Regardless, Ford has stated through her lawyer, Debra Katz, a whistleblower attorney who works with “#MeToo” survivors, that she is willing to appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee to testify about the alleged incident. A date has not yet been set.
“The fact that Kavanaugh’s mother ruled against Ford’s parents doesn’t prove Ford is lying,” the author of the Powerline piece says. “Her allegation, coming so many years after the fact,” however, “having been presented so late and with little detail as to time and place, is probably not susceptible to being ruled out means that, if not ‘ruled in’ conclusively, the story should not preclude Kavanaugh’s confirmation. We have statutes of limitations for a reason.”
Last week, a letter, signed by 65 women from a wide range of political backgrounds, all of whom have known Judge Kavanaugh in the past, stated that the Supreme Court nominee “has behaved honorably and treated women with respect,” with the signatories relaying information about how the women have known him over the years and how he has “stood out for his friendship, character, and integrity.”
The Senate Judiciary Committee is still slated to vote on the confirmation of Judge Kavanaugh Thursday, but it seems that this new development could delay that. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said that Ford could possibly testify as early as Tuesday, to rectify the recently-surfaced allegations against the nominee.
The one word – the only word – that can accurately describe these situations and the entire confirmation hearing process of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court is – wait for it – unprecedented.