Chuck Grassley and the white men of the GOP Judiciary Committee are still trying to get away with holding their kangaroo court on Monday excluding any real life witnesses from testifying.
Now another witness who attended the party at which Kavanaugh is alleged to have attemped to rape Christine Blasey Ford has been identified. And, like Kananaugh’s wingman and accused accessory to attempted rape Mark Judge, he is refusing to testify under oath about it.
Today Smyth, identified as fellow classmate “PJ”, is discovered to have written a letter to Grassley and Feinstein:
“I understand that I have been identified by Dr. Christine Blasey Ford as the person she remembers as ‘PJ’ who supposedly was present at the party she described in her statements to the Washington Post,” Smyth says in the letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee, according to CNN. “I am issuing this statement today to make it clear to all involved that I have no knowledge of the party in question; nor do I have any knowledge of the allegations of improper conduct she has leveled against Brett Kavanaugh.”
CNN reports that the letter continues, “Personally speaking, I have known Brett Kavanaugh since high school and I know him to be a person of great integrity, a great friend, and I have never witnessed any improper conduct by Brett Kavanaugh towards women. To safeguard my own privacy and anonymity, I respectfully request that the Committee accept this statement in response to any inquiry the Committee may have.”
So now we have a second person who says they can not remember “the party in question,” even though the specific party has never been identified, and who is unwilling to testify to his lack of memory under oath.
This just screams cover up.
There are now four identified parties at the scene of the attempted rape, the victim Ford, the perpetrator Kavanaugh and the two witnesses Judge and Smyth. This is not a “he said, she said.” How many more witnesses need there be? They must be required to tell their stories under oath risking felonies of perjury and lying to Congress. Their stories should be compared for consistency.
What kind of crazy proceeding refuses to hear the testimony of two eyewitnesses to attempted rape?
What is going on is a sham.
Judge and Smyth must testify under oath.
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UPDATE: Now yet another person has come forward who was not at the party, but heard about it, as did many others, at the time:
This incident did happen. Many of us heard about it in school and Christine's recollection should be more than enough for us to truly, deeply know that the accusation is true.
While not a first hand witness to the attempted rape, the fact that she heard about it at the time means that she is still a contemporary witness. She says “many of us” heard about it. They need to be tracked down too. These people all need to testify under oath.
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Entirety of Christina King’s letter (image converted to text to facilitate copying):
Cristina King
19 hrs
I signed this letter it makes me proud to have attended Holton Arms. The current situation involving Dr. Christine Blasey Ford and Supreme Court Justice nominee Brett Kavanaugh touches a very personal nerve and has unearthed memories, good and bad, that I had buried deep from my time at Holton. I graduated from Holton, and knew both Brett Kavanaugh, not well, and Mark Judge. I remember having a bit of a crush on Mark, he had a keen intelligence and sardonic, biting wit when he wasn't drunk which was often (as were lots of teenage guys from Prep, Landon and girls from Holton, Stone Ridge, Visitation on weekends at parties, during Beachweck, etc). I asked him to go to my junior or senior prom with me, can't remember now which one. I just remember how horrible I felt when he stood me up because he got bombed a few hours before the prom dinner. He showed no respect and had no remorse. Apparently, in 2018 some things have not changed, unfortunately.
Christine Blasey Ford was a year or so behind me, I remember her. This incident did happen. Many of us heard about it in school and Christine's recollection should be more than enough for us to truly, deeply know that the accusation is true. We are all in some way from that time, at least me, Christine, and I applaud her courage and ther dignity. The drinking ensconced in the puritanism and hypocrisy of that elite, privileged, mostly white, Catholic, Washington society, was completely out of control. I recall having a few parties at my house and having to call the cops once on my own party. We were teenagers and did really stupid, abusive, dangerous things. Nobody here has the moral authority over anyone else no matter what elite school or college or brilliant career and beautiful family he or she may now have.
I invite the women who stepped up in support for Kavanaugh in their letter, in addition to writing about what a good person, great athlete, student, family man, and brilliant professional Brett Kavanaugh is, and he may well be all those things, to reflect on their use of the word "integrity" to describe him and to really think about who they are supporting and why. In my case, even before Christine came forward, I was and still am completely against his nomination. I do not want him representing me or making decisions on my behalf in the Supreme Court as he goes against everything sacred to me as woman, mother, daughter, latina, American and professional. No matter how fine a person and "upstanding citizen he may be.
If Kavanaugh truly has the integrity mentioned by those who support him, then he should be just as courageous as Christine and stop trying to dodge the accusations, admit his actions from so long ago, speak from the heart, and apologize. By doing this, he would be giving the next generation and our kids/teenagers a huge lesson in humility, dignity and humanity. Those would be the actions of a person we want in the Supreme Court. We want a person who has erred in his life, who has not "turned the other cheek" as he is now doing, who is not afraid to embrace his flaws, mistakes, and weaknesses because it is this kind of person whom we can trust to make the difficult decisions and who will truly value human life and liberties. Being an outstanding student, athlete, with a wide circle of friends" is way too superficial and does not do it for me. Not enough.
My heart goes out to all involved who are now whether they like or not, facing their demons, which are never pretty nor easy to dialogue with, but they are necessary in order for us to accept that we are all flawed and ultimately, human.