After a week-long round of television appearances in which Jeff Flake styled himself the hero of the Republican party, he ended it by doing exactly what the GOP wanted him to do to begin with, and no one should be surprised.
Key undecided Sens. Susan Collins and Jeff Flake call Kavanaugh FBI investigation "very thorough" https://t.co/QnDNQoIGKx pic.twitter.com/U2bhPy3c0B
— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) October 4, 2018
Flake says he agrees with GOP Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) that the FBI investigation was “thorough.” He is quoted as saying, according to the Daily News:
‘I think Susan Collins was quoted saying it was very thorough but no new corroborative information came out of it. That’s accurate…I wanted this pause, we’ve had this pause. We’ve had the professionals, the FBI, determine — given the scope that we gave them, current credible allegations — to go and do their review which they’ve done. Thus far we’ve seen no new credible corroboration, no new corroboration at all.’
From the day the FBI Kavanaugh probe was announced, we ALL knew it was a sham to give GOP Senators cover to vote for an *alleged* rapist.
– No interview of Dr. Ford
– DOZENS of witnesses ignored
– ONE copy of report for 100 Senators to review.#FBIReporthttps://t.co/obostx8xZp— BrooklynDad_Defiant! (@mmpadellan) October 4, 2018
Of course, the investigation has not been made public; however, more than 40 people say that they contacted the FBI with information related to the investigation and those contacts went unanswered. Two people who weren’t interviewed by the FBI specifically were Brett Kavanaugh and Dr. Christine Blasey Ford. While both gave testimony in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee, any investigation should have followed up with the two and asked for any further names of corroborating witnesses that could be contacted.
Dr. Ford's lawyers blasted the bureau for failing to interview their client and several other witnesses. https://t.co/qrlM7BrfoK
— HuffPost (@HuffPost) October 4, 2018
It was a travesty of justice from the moment Dr. Ford risked her life to come forward. No matter how many times Trump and his friends insisted that she was “compelling” and that they believe “something happened to her,” in the end, they failed her and every other woman who lives with the pain of trauma from sexual assault.
FBI report, as senators review single copy https://t.co/ljjG67ZoGP How ridiculous can this get having a single copy of a report for 100 senators to read. Is not even classified information! The Democrats will keep asking for time out regardless. Is a shameful procedure!
— Sergio Alonso (@Alonsouru) October 4, 2018
Dr. Ford, her husband, and her therapist should have been more than enough “credible corroboration” from the beginning. None of these people had any reason to lie.
While neither Flake nor Collins have said yet whether or not they will vote to confirm Kavanaugh, odds are they will. Then Kavanaugh can join Clarence Thomas as just another sexual abuser on the Supreme Court. Once again, women will be ignored and forgotten.
Featured image via Flickr by Gage Skidmore under a Creative Commons license
