Congressman Jason Smith: Time to Vote

Time to Vote

 When I wrote in July that history showed Judge Kavanaugh and his family were about to experience “the absolute ugliest in politics,” I had no idea how far the United States Senate would fall. Any hopes that Washington would set aside personal ambitions and responsibly ‘advise and consent’ vanished this week, as Senator Feinstein and her followers chose instead to search and destroy. At Judge Kavanaugh’s hearings we witnessed how destructive their thirst for power is, and watched a Senate circus publicly harm two families in the name of power and greed.

I have no reason to doubt Dr. Ford believes her testimony to be true. I also have no reason to doubt Judge Kavanaugh’s testimony. Both were believable, emotional, and credible witnesses. However, we have every reason to believe the lead-up to Thursday’s hearing was a carefully-timed political hit job by Senators who intended to smear Judge Kavanaugh’s name and drag out his confirmation as long as possible.

The hearing this week was an embarrassment that should have never taken place. Dr. Ford had no new details or corroborating evidence to provide. She should have been heard in private, as she requested. Instead, Ranking Democrat Dianne Feinstein sat on her allegation for six weeks. She had every opportunity to discuss this alleged incident with her colleagues in the Senate, or even Judge Kavanaugh himself. As she was interviewing Judge Kavanaugh for an hour, she made no mention of the letter she had in her possession or the fact that she and her staff were actively helping Dr. Ford find a lawyer. She said nothing as Judge Kavanaugh testified for 30 hours in front of the committee the first time. Not one related question was included in the 1,000 answered questions the Judge supplied to the committee. And then, just as Judge Kavanaugh survived a week of liberal Senators grandstanding and fundraising off of his confirmation hearings and was on track to be confirmed, suddenly Dr. Ford’s allegations leaked to the press.

I wish we had gotten to the bottom of things on Thursday, but the nature of Dr. Ford’s allegation made that impossible. Dr. Ford testified emotionally about something she believes to be true, and Judge Kavanaugh forcibly denied anything like this ever took place and offered as much evidence as he could to clear his name. No new details, corroborating evidence, or any meaningful facts backing up the allegation came to light. What we’re left with is eight hours of character assassination attempts and no concrete reason to believe that this alleged incident in any way represents the man Judge Kavanaugh is today or has been for the past 30 years.

It’s simply not enough. Allowing uncorroborated accusations from over three decades ago, which have been denied in sworn statements of people who were supposedly there, would set a terrible, dangerous precedent for the Senate and the Supreme Court.

I feel for both the Kavanaugh and Ford families as they go through this terrible circus – every day must feel like a lifetime and I can’t begin to imagine how difficult this is to explain to their young family members. The Senate, once called the “greatest deliberative body in the world,” has failed them and has failed the American people at every step of this confirmation process. End this circus. It’s time to vote.