Sen. Kamala Harris used her time during Dr. Christine Ford’s hearing in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee to point out the facts of what is happening today. Dr. Ford is testifying in front of a bunch of old, powerful, ornery, and immoral white men.
Sen. Harris: You have shared your experience with multiple friends years after after that and before these hearings ever started. I know, having prosecuted sexual assault cases, and child sexual assault cases, that study after study shows trauma, shame and the fear of consequences, almost always cause survivors to, at the very least, delay reporting, if they ever report at all. Police recognize that. Prosecutors recognize that. Medical and mental health professionals recognize that. The notes from your therapy sessions were created long before this nomination and corroborate what you have said today. You have passed a polygraph and submitted the results to this committee.
Judge Kavanaugh has not.
You have called for outside witnesses to testify and for expert witnesses to testify.
Judge Kavanaugh has not.
But most importantly, you have called for an independent FBI investigation into the facts.
Judge Kavanaugh has not.
And we owe you that. We owe the American people that. And let's talk about why this is so important.
Sen. Harris also gave a lesson in Republican surrogate and Maricopa County, Arizona, sex-crimes prosecutor Rachel Mitchell’s job. In a moment I like to call “You should know better,” Harris pointed out that, of all the people in the room, Mitchell should know best what a circus this was.
Sen. Harris: Contrary to what has been said today, the FBI does not reach conclusions. The FBI investigates, it interviews witnesses, gathers facts and then presents that information to the United States Senate for our consideration and judgment. This committee knows that, in spite of what you've been told. In 1991, during a similar hearing, one of my Republican colleagues in this committee stated these claims were taken seriously by having the Federal Bureau of Investigations launch an inquiry to determine their validity. The FBI fulfilled its duty and issued a confidential report. Well, that could have and should have been done here. This morning it was said that this could have been investigated confidentially back in July. But this also could have been investigated in the last 11 days since you came forward. Yet that has not happened. The FBI could have interviewed Mark Judge, Patrick Smyth, Leland Keyser, you, and Judge Kavanaugh on these issues.
The FBI could have examined various maps that have been presented by the prosecutor, who stands in for the United States senators on this committee. The FBI could have gathered facts about the music or the conversation or any other details about the gathering that occurred that evening. That is standard procedure in a sexual assault case. In fact, the manual that was signed off by Ms. Mitchell, the manual that is posted on the Maricopa County attorney’s website, as a guiding principle and best practices for what should happen with sexual assault cases, highlights the details of what should happen in terms of the need for an objective investigation into any sexual assault case. It says, “Effective investigation requires cooperation with a multi-disciplinary team that includes medical professionals, victim advocates, dedicated forensic interviewers, criminalists, and other law enforcement members.” The manual also stresses the importance of obtaining outside witness information.
Sen. Harris finished by rightly lauding Dr. Ford’s bravery and patriotism in appearing today, moving Dr. Ford to tears.
Sen. Harris: You have bravely come forward. You have bravely come forward. And I want to thank you, because you clearly have nothing to gain for what you have done. You have been a true patriot in fighting for who the best of who we are as a country. And I believe you are doing that because you love this country, and I believe history will show that you are a true profile in courage at this moment in time, in the history of our country, and I thank you.
Sen. Lindsey Graham can catch the vapors all over the Senate building. It doesn’t change the facts.