Here we go. The Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court nomination is getting ready to start, just two weeks after the news leaked out that a woman had accused him of sexual misconduct. Those weeks have been filled with new revelations, truly disgusting Republican excuse-making and victim-blaming, and inspiring and thought-provoking activism and analysis. Going into this hearing, it’s become clear that Republicans believe the allegations against Kavanaugh are credible and that that’s exactly why they don’t want a full investigation or witnesses at the hearing. What we’ll learn in the coming hours remains to be seen. Here’s how we’ve gotten to this point:
- News broke on September 13 that Democrats had referred a secret letter to the FBI. After the basic outlines of the allegations leaked out, Kavanaugh issued his first denial and Republicans swiftly released a letter signed by 65 women who said they had known Kavanaugh in high school and that he had “behaved honorably and treated women with respect.” Because if he didn’t try to rape every woman he met, he must be innocent of trying to rape any woman. The response was so swift, you had to wonder what Republicans knew when.
- On September 16, Christine Blasey Ford came forward with her now-familiar allegations: that when she and Kavanaugh were in high school, he cornered her at a party, pinned her to a bed, and covered her mouth to keep her from screaming as he tried to tear her clothes off. She was able to get away because Kavanaugh’s friend Mark Judge drunkenly jumped on top of them, allowing her to break free.
- By September 17, Kavanaugh had quickly lawyered up, while Republicans postponed the committee vote on his nomination and announced a hearing for the following Monday. They made that announcement without consulting Ford on the timing, however. In fact, they didn’t even consult committee Democrats.
- On September 18, Donald Trump claimed to want a “full process,” but ruled out an FBI investigation of the allegations, allowing Republicans to claim that it was Ford’s word against Kavanaugh’s, with the expectation that the general public wouldn’t notice Trump and Republicans standing in the way of more evidence. Trump and Republicans have continued to block a serious investigation or fair hearing of the allegations throughout, even as Democrats have urged an investigation.
- As the allegations against Kavanaugh sank in, Republicans launched a predictable series of smear campaigns. They suggested it was a case of mistaken identity, a theory floated early on by Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT). They described the assault as merely “rough horseplay” or something that “never went anywhere.” A series of false attacks and smears against Ford circulated. And, of course, Donald Trump attacked Ford and praised Kavanaugh.
We need a Senate that believes women. Please give $3 each to elect Jacky Rosen in Nevada and Beto O'Rourke in Texas.
- Republicans tried to force Ford into a hearing Monday, September 24, obviously hoping to avoid having a hearing at all while pinning it on her, but her lawyers pushed for a less abusive schedule and ultimately won a Thursday hearing, though Republicans have refused to allow witnesses other than Kavanaugh and Ford and, to avoid the bad optics of 11 Republican men subjecting a sexual assault survivor to hostile questioning, have hired a woman to conduct their questioning—sex crimes prosecutor Rachel Mitchell.
- On September 23, a second sexual assault allegation against Kavanaugh was reported by the New Yorker’s Ronan Farrow and Jane Mayer. Deborah Ramirez, a Yale classmate of Kavanaugh’s, said that he had exposed himself to her, causing her to touch his naked penis as she tried to get away from him. At the same time, Stormy Daniels lawyer Michael Avenatti said he had another victim preparing to come forward.
- While Kavanaugh’s accusers avoided the limelight, he went on Fox News for a softball interview on September 24. In that interview, he repeatedly (23 times) said he wanted a “fair process,” but did not call for an investigation of the allegations. Kavanaugh’s already low polling had taken a dive in the days after Ford’s allegations became public, and in the wake of Ramirez’s allegations, some of Kavanaugh’s early supporters began backing away.
- On September 26, Avenatti’s client came forward alleging that Kavanaugh participated in gang rapes during high school, and that she had been a victim of one of those rapes with Kavanaugh present. Her allegations are consistent with an account from Mark Judge’s college girlfriend, who says that he told her about “an incident that involved him and other boys taking turns having sex with a drunk woman.”
- Also on September 26, we learned that the Senate Judiciary Committee had an anonymous letter detailing a fourth incident, in 1998, in which Kavanaugh drunkenly “shoved [a woman] up against the wall very aggressively and sexually.”
- Two different men are talking to the Senate Judiciary Committee, claiming that they, not Kavanaugh, assaulted Christine Blasey Ford in 1982. As any number of people observed on Twitter, it’s “I am Spartacus,” but for sexual assault.
Throughout these weeks, Donald Trump and his inner circle—with Don Jr. particularly distinguishing himself for disgusting—have victim-blamed and victim-blamed some more and made clear that they're just like Kavanaugh and are seeking to protect men’s rights to assault women. Trump even made clear that he identifies with men who’ve been accused of sexual assault, because, well, he’s been accused of sexual assault so many times. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has been dishonestly self-righteous and outraged, a number of Republican senators have come forward to say they're with Kavanaugh basically no matter what, and Sen. Susan Collins has scrambled to walk a tight rope between her desire to vote for Kavanaugh no matter what and her fear that she’ll lose her reputation as a sensible moderate if she doesn’t play this thing right, achieving new heights of dishonesty even by her impressive standards.
Democrats, meanwhile, demanded that the allegations be investigated or Kavanaugh’s nomination be withdrawn. But the most impressive thing has been the outpouring of activism and storytelling from women for whom these allegations—and the pressure to cover them up—are too familiar. The #MeToo movement, and Kavanaugh’s close relationship with Judge Alex Kozinski, who was brought down by that movement, are a constant backdrop for the ongoing revelations. So, too, is Anita HIll’s 1991 testimony against Clarence Thomas and her powerful voice even now. Analysts are more ready than ever to counterpose the "boys will be boys" defenses of white boys like Kavanaugh against the lethal punishment our society deals out to black boys all too often. There are hundreds of women from Christine Blasey Ford’s high school ready to come forward in solidarity, and survivors showing up to protest in the Senate. Women were ready to tell "why I didn't report" on Twitter when Trump cast doubt on Ford’s story because she hadn’t reported it at the time. The list goes on—women are not willing to be quiet anymore, and while Republican determination to protect Kavanaugh from accountability and push his nomination through may overcome that outpouring in this moment, this moment may also be a watershed one, like Anita Hill’s testimony, that changes our world going forward.