General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsLaurence Tribe: Rachel Maddow's analysis of two key flaws in KV defense was brilliant
@tribelaw
4h4 hours ago
Rachel @maddows hour-long analysis tonight of the two key factual flaws in the Kavanaugh defense was absolutely brilliant and not to be found elsewhere. My urgent hope is that every Senator watches it before voting.
Link to tweet
-----
I recall Rachel saying one flaw was Kavanaugh's relying on (multiple times) the statement from Dr Ford's friend. Kavanaugh read the statement where Dr Ford's friend said she didn't know Kavanaugh. However as Rachel pointed out , Dr Ford had previously been questioned about that by Mitchell and told Mitchell that her friend had called her to apologize for the inaccurate statement that had been unilaterally made by the friend's lawyer, not the friend herself.
Anybody remember the 2nd flaw?
madaboutharry
(40,211 posts)it was only a statement put out by the friends lawyer.
iluvtennis
(19,858 posts)uponit7771
(90,339 posts)iluvtennis
(19,858 posts)uponit7771
(90,339 posts)... questions and the attitude and a couple of more groups coming out against him including the ABA.
Somethings more up with that guy than just what Thomas was
alwaysinasnit
(5,066 posts)KavaNut was accusing Dr. Ford (and Dems) with doing everything possible to stop tRump's nominee from being confirmed. Rachel pointed out that Dr. Ford took action when she heard KavaNut was on the short list. Dr. Ford wasn't trying to stop tRump's nominee from being confirmed, rather she was trying to make sure that the nominee wasn't KavaNut.
That was my take on it.
uponit7771
(90,339 posts)TheBlackAdder
(28,201 posts).
It couldn't be a Dem attack on Trump since she mailed the letter while Kavanaugh was on the short list, prior to selection. She was trying to warn Trump and others not to pick Kavanaugh, she wasn't trying to stop others from being selected.
.
iluvtennis
(19,858 posts)Cha
(297,240 posts)Hortensis
(58,785 posts)on the "short list" in no way injured the others being considered. This was not partisan, but rather, as Blasey Ford said, a matter of civic duty.
ffr
(22,670 posts)https://www.democraticunderground.com/1017512729
Silver Gaia
(4,544 posts)She was even more awesome than usual, and she's usually pretty awesome.
OnDoutside
(19,956 posts)is a massive ball that was dropped.
Hortensis
(58,785 posts)Hortensis
(58,785 posts)DirecTV's new system is hiding Rachel and I can't see it. But check this out, which IS being addressed in the WaPo's politics section, which they all pay attention to:
It was Kavanaughs hope that providing those calendars would show that he attended no such gathering. He insisted, in his testimony Thursday, that any party of the sort must have been on a weekend (since he and his friends had jobs) and that the calendars showed that essentially all of the weekends were booked with other activities. ... Rachel Mitchell, hired by the Republican majority of the Senate Judiciary Committee to navigate the questioning of Kavanaugh and Ford, pointed to one particular calendar entry that got some attention after the calendars came out. It read:
Tobins House Workout / Go to Timmys for Skis w/ Judge, Tom, PJ, Bernie, Squi
The reference to skis is apparently to brewskis, or beers. The entry was July 1, a Thursday. Mitchell asked him about it.
MITCHELL: The entry says, and I quote, go to Timmys for skis with Judge, Tom, P.J. Bernie and ... Squi?
KAVANAUGH: Squi. Its a nickname.
MITCHELL: To what does this refer, and to whom?
KAVANAUGH: [after explaining the Tobins House part] It looks like we went over to Timmys. You want to know their last names, too? Im happy to do it.
MITCHELL: If you could just identify: Is Judge Mark Judge?
KAVANAUGH: It is. Its Tim Gaudette, Mark Judge, Tom Kaine, P.J. Smyth, Bernie McCarthy, Chris Garrett.
Notice two things here. First, that Squi was in attendance at the party someone who, we learned thanks to Mitchells questioning of Ford, was going out with Ford over the course of that summer. Second, notice those two other attendees, one of whom Mitchell highlighted: Mark Judge and P.J. Smyth.
Mitchells questioning continued.
MITCHELL: Did you in your calendar routinely document social gatherings like house parties or gatherings of friends in your calendar?
KAVANAUGH: Yes, it certainly appears that way, thats what I was doing in the summer of 1982. You can see that reflected on several of the-- several of the entries.
MITCHELL: If a gathering like Dr. Ford has described had occurred, would you have documented that?
KAVANAUGH: Yes, because I documented everything, those kinds of events, even small get-togethers. August 7 is another good example where I documented a small get-together that summer. So yes.
During her testimony, Ford made clear that the event at which she says she was assaulted was a casual get-together before the others (who were older than her and had a later curfew) went to other, bigger parties. Kavanaugh says that the gathering at Timmys on July 1 was essentially that.
We noted Thursday, too, that the time frame of this July 1 party fits with Fords testimony. She says that six to eight weeks after the alleged assault, she saw Judge working at a store in the area. Judges book indicates that he was working at that store for several weeks in early to mid-August.
This is a central point to Fords allegation. Kavanaugh denies knowing her, denies being at a party with her. Here is an event in July where he was with several long-standing friends, two of whom were named by Ford and one of whom shed been going out with.
But Mitchells next question completely fumbles the point.
MITCHELL: Have you reviewed every entry that is in these calendars of May, June, July and August of 1982.
KAVANAUGH: I have.
MITCHELL: Is there anything that could even remotely fit what were talking about in terms of Dr. Fords allegations?
KAVANAUGH: No.
That was it. Mitchell changed the subject.
There were all sorts of ways that Mitchell could have pressed the issue. How, for example, might Ford have been able to identify by name two of Kavanaughs close friends if she didnt know him or had barely met him? Why isnt it possible that this July 1 get-together was precisely the sort of event at which Ford alleges she was assaulted? That more than remotely fits the allegation? But she didnt ask.
Mitchell had been stepping in for Republican senators during the days questioning, a tactic that helped the majority avoid the spectacle of men grilling a woman about an attack she says she experienced. There was no break in that pattern until the July 1 question. After that series of questions, Mitchell didnt speak again.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2018/09/27/kavanaugh-is-pressed-key-july-entry-his-calendar-only-point/?utm_term=.f1d49065dd08