by: Athena Dawson

POOL NEW / REUTERS

     Over the past weekend, Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh went under fire for allegations of sexually assaulting women he encountered in his young adulthood.  In July of 2018, Professor Christine Basely Ford came forward with a statement alleging Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her at a party when she was fifteen. Currently, Ford along with 2 other women have accused Kavanaugh of sexual assault.   Kavanaugh’s confirmation has since been halted due to a highly demanded FBI investigation.  With much difficulty, Democratic Senators, as well as a few Republican senators, protested the floor vote for a fair investigation into the potential appointee for a lifetime in the highest court of law.

     Throughout the hearing, Kavanaugh was scrutinized for his partisan speech as Supreme Court Justice members are encouraged to be as neutral as possible. Kavanaugh claimed that the hearing was a “smear campaign” ran by the Democrats to potentially take him out of the running. As reported by CNBC, Republican Senator Jeff Flake stated:  “I think that we ought to do what we can to make sure that we do all due diligence with a nomination this important,”.  Many believe Flake’s decision to halt the confirmation came after he was approached by two tearful women in the Senate elevator. The women reasoned with him that by voting to advance Kavanaugh he would potentially sending a message that “assault doesn’t matter”. 

      As the proceeding came to a close the Republican and Democratic  Senators became more divided.  In many instances,  Republican Senator Lindsay Gram attempted to come to Kavanaugh’s defense, and  Republicans soon attempted to fast -track voting. According to the  NPR Analysis Republicans Push Kavanaugh Nomination Forward, But At What Cost?  ” Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, began the vote on Kavanaugh’s nomination. Quickly, Kavanaugh was approved 11-10, along party lines, and moved along to the full Senate, even as Democrats on the committee were asking what exactly they were even voting on.” 

    On Wednesday, September 26th, Democratic Senators on the Senate Judiciary Committee urged the president to pull the appeals judge’s nomination or “direct the FBI to re-open its background investigation” to examine accusations of sexual misconduct. The members of the panel, which oversees judicial nominations, argued that the claims against Kavanaugh are more than enough “to trigger a meaningful nonpartisan investigation.”So  far, whatever the outcome of the investigation,  it is presumed that  one of the parties will not come out unscathed as the investigation proceeds. 

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