Creators Syndicate
October 14, 2024
The old adage that the cover-up is often worse than the crime
is no more evident, as we have recently learned, than with the confirmation of
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh.
In 2018, Kavanaugh was nominated by President Donald Trump
to fill the seat left vacant by the sudden retirement of Justice Anthony
Kennedy. Kennedy was appointed by President Ronald Reagan. A Republican
appointee, Kennedy consistently voted for such left-leaning causes as narrowing
the death penalty, same-sex marriage and abortion. Kennedy's departure opened
the door to appoint a conservative to the court with an eye toward eliminating
women's reproductive rights.
However, after two women, Christine Blasey Ford and Deborah
Ramirez, came forward with allegations of sexual misconduct, it appeared
Kavanaugh's appointment might be derailed.
In what appeared to be a magnanimous move, Trump called for
a supplemental background investigation by the FBI. The investigation was to be
done by the book. Unfortunately, there was no book on supplemental background
investigations. The White House set the parameters for the
"investigation."
Trump promised that the FBI would have "free rein"
to investigate claims by Ford and Ramirez. He went on to say the FBI was
"talking to everybody" and he wanted the FBI "to interview
whoever they deemed appropriate, at their discretion."
As shocking as it might seem to some, Trump was not telling
the truth when he described the 2018 "investigation" of Kavanaugh.
The Kavanaugh "investigation" was really not an investigation at all.
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), a Senate Judiciary
Committee member, released a recent report into the time leading up to
Kavanaugh's confirmation. He found that messages to the FBI tip line regarding
Kavanaugh were forwarded directly to the White House and never investigated.
The FBI was instructed by the White House to talk to 10 potential witnesses and
was not given the leeway to pursue corroborating evidence.
"On instructions from the White House, the FBI did not
investigate thousands of tips that came in through the FBI's tip line,"
according to the Whitehouse report. "Instead, all tips related to
Kavanaugh were forwarded to the White House without investigation. If anything,
the White House may have used the tip line to steer FBI investigators away from
derogatory or damaging information."
According to the Guardian, the FBI received more than 4,500
calls and electronic messages. Even when senators contacted the FBI directly
with the names of people who claimed to have relevant information about Kavanaugh,
the FBI did not contact them.
The FBI wrapped up their "investigation" within a
week. They never even interviewed Ford or Kavanaugh.
Several senators went on to vote to confirm Kavanaugh based
on the FBI investigation not finding any corroborating evidence to support
Ford's and Ramirez's stories. The FBI didn't try to corroborate their stories,
and if there was corroboration in any of the thousands of tips received by the
FBI, no one saw it except maybe the White House.
This isn't a failure on the part of the FBI. The Trump White
House, the report found, "exercised total control over the scope of the
investigation, preventing the FBI from interviewing relevant witnesses and
following up on tips. The White House refused to authorize basic investigatory
steps that might have uncovered information corroborating the
allegations."
If Trump had no qualms about lying to U.S. senators about
something as fundamentally important as the confirmation for a lifetime term on
the United States Supreme Court, what is the likelihood he'll be honest with
the rest of us?
Here the cover-up made it possible to turn back the clock on
women and their reproductive rights. Kavanaugh joined the high court, and in
less than four years, the court overturned Roe v. Wade.
Matthew T. Mangino is of counsel with Luxenberg, Garbett,
Kelly & George P.C. His book The Executioner's Toll, 2010 was released by
McFarland Publishing. You can reach him at www.mattmangino.com and follow him
on X @MatthewTMangino.
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