Sen. Grassley releases report on Kavanaugh investigation

The report is over 400 pages long but nearly all of that is made up of documents, letters, and transcripts that were pertinent to the investigation. The first 28 pages of the report does present a detailed picture of the various allegations the Judiciary Committee investigated. This summary of the committee’s efforts notes that a majority of those who supported Judge Kavanaugh withheld their identities for fear of retribution of some kind:

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A large portion of individuals providing testimony in support of Justice Kavanaugh asked that their names be redacted out of fear that their statements might result in personal or professional retribution or personal physical harm – or even risk the safety and well-being of their families and friends. The Committee respected all requests for anonymity. Accordingly, some aspects of this memorandum are redacted.

The summary concludes:

After an extensive investigation that included the thorough review of all potentially credible evidence submitted and interviews of more than 40 individuals with information relating
to the allegations, including classmates and friends of all those involved, Committee investigators found no witness who could provide any verifiable evidence to support any of the allegations brought against Justice Kavanaugh. In other words, following the separate and extensive investigations by both the Committee and the FBI, there was no evidence to substantiate any of the claims of sexual assault made against Justice Kavanaugh.

This is followed by a look at each of the accusers and how the committee investigated their claims. The section on Dr. Ford’s allegations offers a bit more detail on the two men who, seperately, contacted the committee claiming they might have had some sort of contact with Dr. Ford at a party like the one she described. Both the names have been redacted:

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(Sept. 24, Sept. 25): stated that after graduating from high school in Hampton, Virginia in 1982, he made several trips to D.C. that summer. During one of the trips, he attended a house party where he kissed and made out with a woman he met who he believes could have been Dr. Ford. said that based on old photographs of Justice Kavanaugh he has seen on the news, he believes the two of them share a similar appearance.

(Sept. 26): stated that when he was a 19 year-old college student, he visited D.C. over spring break and kissed a girl he believes was Dr. Ford. He said that the kiss happened in the bedroom of a house which was about a 15-to 20 minute walk from the Van Ness Metro, that Dr. Ford was wearing a swimsuit under her clothing, and that the kissing ended when a friend jumped on them as a joke. said that the woman initiated the kissing and that he did not force himself on her.

As the report notes, both of these descriptions seem to match Dr. Ford’s description in some ways but both are describing consensual kissing, which is definitely not what she was describing. It always struck me as odd that someone would come forward and claim they were the person who Ford remembers as having sexually assaulted her 35 years ago. In any case, their claims didn’t matter because, as the report states, “The witnesses that Dr. Ford identified as individuals who could corroborate her allegations failed to do so, and in fact, contradicted her.”

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Regarding the allegations of Deborah Ramirez, the report indicates that a Yale classmate (his name is redacted) told the committee that there was another member of the DKE fraternity who “had a reputation for exposing himself publicly.” This person claimed to have seen the person in question expose himself at a DKE party. They also apparently provided a yearbook photo showing this person exposing themselves. That seems pretty suggestive especially given that Ramirez initially wasn’t sure that Kavanaugh was the person who exposed himself to her.

Regarding the allegations by Julie Swetnick, the report has this to say:

Committee investigators searched for information about Swetnick to assess her credibility. Committee investigators examined public sources for information on Swetnick’s background and readily determined that she has a lengthy history of litigation, including as a plaintiff in a sexual harassment suit in which she was represented by Debra Katz’s firm, the same Debra Katz who represented Dr. Ford.

Small world, I guess.

There’s more to the report, including other allegations which were retracted or turned out to be false, a couple of which have been referred to the DOJ for investigation. The report also notes there is some ongoing effort to look into possible pressure placed on Dr. Ford’s friend Leyland Keyser to revise her account after she said she never met Brett Kavanaugh and didn’t remember a party like the one Ford had described. You can read the full report here.

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