It’s difficult to imagine a more heated debate for a Supreme Court confirmation than Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s. What started with Sen. Mitch McConnell’s refusal to hold confirmation hearings at all for President Obama’s pick, Merrick Garland, has led to filling one seat with a Trump nominee, Neil Gorsuch, and now the GOP is trying desperately to install another even without full vetting or enough information for the Senate to properly do its job.
Feinstein turned over a mysterious letter about Brett Kavanaugh to the FBI https://t.co/7qu2Bgq87J pic.twitter.com/mIGwyZQPkq
— Talking Points Memo (@TPM) September 13, 2018
However, a letter sent to Rep. Anna Escoo, who passed it to Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein, may derail all of these efforts. According to her Twitter feed, that letter has been passed to federal authorities for investigation.
Ummmm pic.twitter.com/zPEtoBasgs
— Laura Litvan (@LauraLitvan) September 13, 2018
The news was first broken by Ryan Grim of The Intercept, who writes that:
‘The specific content of the document, which is a letter from a California constituent, is unclear, but Feinstein’s refusal to share the letter has created tension on the committee, particularly after Feinstein largely took a back seat to her more junior colleagues last week, as they took over Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearings with protests around access to documents…
‘Different sources provided different accounts of the contents of the letter, and some of the sources said they themselves had heard different versions, but the one consistent theme was that it describes an incident involving Kavanaugh and a woman while they were in high school. Kept hidden, the letter is beginning to take on a life of its own.’
Feinstein releases statement on secret Kavanaugh letter that's roiled Capitol Hill — says she received information from an individual about Kavanaugh's nomination, the individual declined to come forward, and she's referred the matter to investigative authorities pic.twitter.com/lI4o6RJ1hP
— Casey Tolan (@caseytolan) September 13, 2018
Those rumors are not just a wild guess or allegation. The letter’s writer, who asked not to be named and chose not to come forward to submit herself to the inevitable public scorn and backlash that sexual assault survivors do, is represented by a prominent attorney who often handles these particular types of cases.
‘The woman who is the subject of the letter is now being represented by Debra Katz, a whistleblower attorney who works with #MeToo survivors. Joseph Abboud, an attorney at Katz’s firm, said that the firm was declining to comment. Emma Crisci, a spokesperson for Eshoo, declined to comment on the letter her office sent to Feinstein, saying that the office has a confidentiality policy when it comes to constituent casework. A spokesperson for Feinstein did not respond to requests for comment.’
Under pressure from Senate Democrats about an unreleased letter making claims concerning Brett Kavanaugh, Sen. Dianne Feinstein told them she would refer the matter to the Justice Department https://t.co/MWRGI0o7vJ
— POLITICO (@politico) September 13, 2018
Featured image screenshot via YouTube
