Shockingly, Donald Trump actually interfered with the investigation into Kavanaugh’s past, telling the FBI not to follow through on any tips regarding sexual assault allegations, nor investigate Kavanaugh any further, all to get his guy through.

Few people recall that Trump’s “process” in selecting justices for the Supreme Court consisted of taking a list provided by the Federalist Society, a list that included 20-25 names as “qualified” and “endorsed” by the hyper-conservative movement and Trump would select a name from the list. Trump wanted Kavanaugh for one reason (one presumes). Kavanaugh was the only candidate that had written a brief stating that it should be illegal to investigate a president while in office. Imagine how much Trump would love such a rule.

He would love it enough to interfere in the investigation. Though it says it was reported in 2019, I have to confess that I never heard the White House was involved:

 In 2019, it was reported that by order of the White House and Senate Republicans, the FBI limited its investigation into the accusations of Kavanaugh’s past sexual misconduct.

Now a documentary, “Justice,” which was placed in the Sundance Film Festival line-up late sold out the Park City theatre and has wowed audiences. From the Daily Gwinett Post from the Q&A with Director Doug Liman afterward:

This may be obvious, but the title “Justice” has two meanings here. It’s meant as a reference to Kavanaugh’s title and a claim that the FBI and the political establishment perpetrated a miscarriage of justice to those who came forward with allegations by failing to pursue them adequately.

Many knew that the investigation into Kavanaugh was superficial, but not as superficial as the documentary sets forth.

Christine Blasey Ford, who alleged during Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearing that he sexually assaulted her when they were teenagers in the 1980s, is not a key source in the film. Though the doc opens with Ford asking Liman why he’s interested in this, and what his goals are in making the movie, she otherwise appears only in archival footage. Instead, her story is primarily told through her congressional testimony and interviews with her friends. “I felt that Dr. Ford had given so much to the country … she more than did her part for the country,” Liman said. “She did enough for 10 lifetimes.”

Everyone knew she was telling the truth, including Kavanaugh, whose fiery retort wreaked of guilt. Additionally, it was noted that Lindsey Graham jumped in to stop the “female assistant’s’ questioning of Kav right as she was getting to the point in his calendars where it would show that they lined up perfectly with Ford’s accusations.

 The film features a potent recording from Max Stier. Stier allegedly witnessed sexual misconduct by Kavanaugh during a “drunken dorm party” while at Yale — and notified senators and the FBI after Kavanaugh’s nomination, though the FBI reportedly failed to investigate the claim further. Though he does not appear in the film, the recording is powerful: The alleged incident, he says, involves a woman whose identity remains anonymous because she has chosen not to come forward — for lack of memory during a night of drinking, yes, but also because she saw what happened to Ford after speaking publicly.

We had heard about the incident but didn’t know that it went uninvestigated by the FBI. Now, to the most outrageous:

 According to the documentary, the FBI to this day hasn’t reached out to those who sent in tips about the allegations against Kavanaugh for formal investigation. “I do hope this triggers outrage,” said producer Amy Herdy — ultimately leading to “a real investigation with subpoena powers.”

And the obvious conclusion (There are many other descriptions of problems in the article, I selected a few to honor fair use:

According to Liman, the chilling effect against accusers remains: “This was the kind of movie where people are terrified,” he said. “The machinery that’s put in place against anyone who dared speak up, we knew that machinery would be turned on this film… We live in a climate where no matter what we got in this movie, the people who support the status quo would keep supporting it.”

Yes, all people feel the “chill” in testifying against the powerful but much more so for women, especially when it comes to sexual assault. The message is “don’t you dare.”

“Justice.” We should all look for it when it’s available.
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[email protected], @JasonMiciak, SUBSTACK: MUCH LEFT ADO

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10 COMMENTS

  1. As with everything else he perverted, it was obvious from the get-go that tRump’s thumb was on the scale with regard to Brewski. Once the reports started coming out about how the investigation was tampered with, it was confirmation rather than revelation. Just the way Kav and Lindsey came back into the hearings with the temper tantrums and ugly faces told you all you needed to know. No damned woman was going to screw this up for them. They had their designated lackey and he was getting the job, no matter who they had to slander, or how many witnesses they had to ignore. Never have we seen such contempt for our systems or our people than what we experienced under tRump. May we never see the like again.

    31
    • Sadly, Carol, I fear we’ll continue to see the like again, as long as Trumpism lingers even after the bloated lardass messiah has faded from view (hopefully into a slammer but that’s a meagre hope, I know). The Republican party’s only too willing to carry on just as Trumpler did, maybe even more so. Our only defence is the Democratic party and, despite some valiant efforts, it doesn’t appear to be up to the task.

      12
  2. Gee first thomas lies his ass off about his filthy behavior toward a subordinate then beer bong lies about his own filthy behavior. And folks thought these two should rest their asses on the bench of the highest court in the land. WTF?!? I believe justices CAN be impeached–why isn’t this being done?

    26
    • Yes, Justices can be impleached. I believe the process begins in the House of Represetatives. (Even during the two years previous to the present Congress, the Democratic margin in the House was pretty thin, and in the Senate, which would have had to try the case, it was a mirage. The best we could have done was get an impeachment with no conviction. At some periods in our history, that might have been worth going for. Not these days. To Republicans, the impeachment of a Republican without a conviction constitutes a vindication. And, no, that doesn’t apply both ways. Because of course it doesn’t.)

      15
  3. It will be interesting to see the lengths mainstream media goes to in getting past this. We have been hearing/seeing crap about Diamond’s memorial service (and really, except for regular listeners to her show who gave rat’s ass?) and attempts to conflate Biden docs with Trump’s actual intentional obstruction crimes – and jack about THIS.

    Kavanaugh thought all this was over. It should come back and haunt that asshole for the rest of his miserable life. I will always think of that SNL cold open with Matt Damon, which wasn’t so much funny as tragic because it was every bit as real as the actual hearing where Kavanaugh (and Graham too) showed his ass.

    19
  4. Just to show how far the rot goes even among the so called ‘educated’, I lost a workout friend over the hearing. It was crystal clear, given the personal shame Dr. Ford endured as a survivor of sexual assault, clear she was being truthful and he was lying.(perjury?). My friend was a high level attorney in the state’s collection department. He asked me one day at planet fitness what I thought and I told him. He said it was a ‘he said, she said’ situation. I pointed our her testimony was that his friend was also in the room. Therefore it WASN’T just two people but three, and, as an attorney, how could he miss the fact a witness was there. He got pissed and never talked with me again. People believe what they want, damn the facts. That’s fine sitting around but to allow a person to have the power and privileges in the highest court FOR LIFE, is a goddamn crime and shows how far off the rails THE LAW is. Otherwise HE WOULDNT BE THERE!!!

    17
  5. “Everyone knew she was telling the truth, including Kavanaugh, whose fiery retort wreaked of guilt.”

    Jason, just a note, but the proper phrase would be “REEKED of guilt.” “Wreak” means “cause” (as in “The storm wreaked havoc”) while “reek” means “smell” (as in “The kitchen reeked of boiled cabbage”).

  6. The GOP is certainly going to have to try to bury this documentary and hurriedly if they don’t want to show how their current narrative of “weaponizing the FBI” is bogus. We can’t have that narrative leading to hours of pointless hearings when Trump was doing just that to help get “his” Justice on the Court.

  7. Maybe Dr. Ford should replace that incompetent, unqualified punk on the bench. At least she doesn’t constantly lie like those clowns currently on the bench, plus she doesn’t blow fascists.

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