The media circus continues, where Ed Whelan has now tweeted a classic example of modern non-Russian disinformation, after first tweeting a theory worthy of Alex Jones:
Here’s hoping Chris Garrett has lawyers on speed-dial, because unless Ed Whelan’s middle name is Zapruder or Holliday, he’s in for a heap of legal trouble by producing a Twitter version of a false memory.
Because all white folks must look alike, especially when they sexually assault 15-year-olds, and Ed Whelan probably has a power-point as well. Pro-tip: get better photos to prove resemblance.
Dr. Ford may well have been the victim of a severe sexual assault by someone 36 years ago. Her allegations are so vague as to such basic matters as when and where that it is impossible for Judge Kavanaugh to *prove* his innocence.
But there are compelling reasons to believe his categorical denial. Let’s look at one set of reasons.
According to Ford’s letter, the assault occurred “in a suburban Maryland area home at a gathering that included me and four others.” Her WaPo account adds that the house was “not far from” the Columbia Country Club.
The “four others” that she and her lawyer have identified are Kavanaugh, Mark Judge, P.J. Smyth, and a female classmate of Ford’s. None of the four lived in the vicinity of the Columbia Country Club.
Kavanaugh’s home was 3.6 miles away; Smyth’s 4.3 miles; Judge’s 10 miles; and the female classmate’s 7 miles.
Here is a map of the homes in relation to Columbia Country Club.
Here is a house that is barely a half-mile from the Columbia Country Club. Street address: 3714 Thornapple Street, Chevy Chase.
The floor plan corresponds closely to Ford’s description of the house where the gathering took place. Here’s the “short stair well” (part of a U-shaped staircase with landing) running up from the foyer next to the living room.
Right at the top of the stairs is a door leading to a bedroom. This matches Ford’s account of the location of the bedroom she was “pushed” into.
By her account, when she escaped from the bedroom, she “r[a]n across to a hallway bathroom.” The floor plan shows that the hallway bathroom is across the hall from the bedroom.
She says the gathering took place in a “small family room.” See the family room in the upper left of the floor plan. Someone leaving the house down the stairs and out the front door wouldn’t be seen from the family room.
Who lived in this house? Chris Garrett, a Georgetown Prep classmate, friend, and football teammate of Brett Kavanaugh’s.
Garrett was good friends with Mark Judge. Their friendship appears to have continued long after graduation, as this 2012 Facebook exchange shows.
Folks who knew both Kavanaugh and Garrett in high school have commented on how much they resembled each other in appearance. Here are Kavanaugh and Garrett in their senior yearbook photos.
If you’re at a gathering of “four others” in someone’s home, you’d ordinarily think that the four others include the host who lives in the home. And that host would be the person least likely to act like a guest and most likely to use private areas of the house.
If the gathering was at Garrett’s house and Garrett was there, then one of the “four others” wasn’t there.
Kavanaugh categorically denies being at the gathering and committing the assault. Beyond his countless character witnesses from then and now, Judge and Smyth have informed the Senate Judiciary Committee that they recall no such gathering *at which Kavanaugh was present*.
The female classmate has not been heard from.
To be clear, I have no idea what, if anything, did or did not happen in that bedroom at the top of the stairs, and I therefore do not state, imply or insinuate that Garrett or anyone else committed the sexual assault that Ford alleges.
Further, if Ford is now mistakenly remembering Garrett to be Kavanaugh, I offer no view whether that mistaken remembrance dates from the gathering or developed at some point in the intervening years.
It is regrettable that private citizens are being drawn into this. But that is the product of Senator Feinstein’s shockingly shoddy handling of the whole matter.
If the matter had been handled as it should have been, the Committee would have investigated the matter over the summer and resolved it privately to everyone’s satisfaction without the smearing of Kavanaugh and the dragging of the names of others into the public eye.
Bottom line: I believe that a fair assessment of this evidence powerfully supports Judge Kavanaugh’s categorical denial.