In another such instance that arose during his Senate hearing, Kavanaugh was asked about a reference to a female friend, Renate Dolphin. Kavanaugh called himself a “Renate alumnius” in his yearbook, seeming to imply that he had slept with her. That, at least, is how Dolphin interpreted it. Upon being shown the yearbook in recent days, she declared herself betrayed and hurt by the false inference Kavanaugh was making.

But when quizzed about it, Kavanaugh did not own up to making a cruel joke at Dolphin’s expense. Instead, he claimed the reference was entirely innocent. It simply conveyed she was part of his social circle, he said, and he blamed the media for mischaracterizing it as a reference to sex.

The answer, like the others, just didn’t pass the laugh test.

Here is where the FBI should come in. As part of its probe this week, the FBI must obviously seek to get to the bottom of the highly credible allegations made by Blasey Ford and Kavanaugh’s other accusers.