“Given Ramirez’s corroboration, the ample time to hear from her, and the gravity of the vote, this is as obscene a statement of the GOP’s disregard for women’s bodies as we’ve ever seen.” ~Seth Abramson
Editor’s Note: Samuel Wynn Warde is the editor-in-chief of Liberals Unite as well as a contributor. The opinions expressed in this commentary are his own. You can view a list of his articles here.
Republicans seem hell-bent on voting on Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation to the U.S.. Supreme Court as quickly as possible. At issue are multiple accusations of sexual misconduct on the part of Brett Kavanaugh.
So far, two accusers have come out publicly, with Stormy Daniels’ attorney, Michael Avenatti, claiming he has multiple clients with allegations to disclose this week.
The Senate Judiciary Committee is set to hear testimony on Thursday from Kavanaugh and his first accuser, Christine Blasey Ford. The committee is refusing to hear sworn testimony from the second accuser, Deborah Ramirez. The Senate Judiciary committee is also refusing to take testimony from a witness named by Ford and has refused a request from Ford’s attorneys to hear testimony from “two trauma experts and the person who administered her polygraph to testify,” as per CNN‘s up to the minute coverage of events surrounding the Kavanaugh accusations.
Former criminal investigator and criminal defense attorney, Seth Abramson, weighed in on Republican committee efforts to prevent Ramirez from testifying, ultimately concluding:
If Kavanaugh is confirmed, he’ll be one of *9 people governing US law* until roughly 2050. Given Ramirez’s corroboration, the ample time to hear from her, and the gravity of the vote, this is as obscene a statement of the GOP’s disregard for women’s bodies as we’ve ever seen.
Abramson began his analysis explaining that Ramirez’ allegation is corroborated, adding that this should be the news of the day. [We are listing each individual tweet we cite as a bullet point. Not all of Abramson’s tweets have been listed in this article, so be sure to click on the thread, below, to read it all.]
PLEASE RT: Deborah Ramirez has given a *corroborated* account of sexual assault by Kavanaugh and Republicans refuse to meet with/speak to her despite the corroboration and her willingness to speak to the FBI under penalty of a felony for lying. This should be the top story on TV.
— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) September 26, 2018
Continuing, Abramson explains the elements of corroboration in this instance. He begins with a link to a Tuesday article published by The New York Times, tweeting:
- In sex crime cases, corroboration often takes the form of a contemporaneous disclosure to a third party regarding the incident and the alleged assailant—according to this NYT story, Deborah Ramirez has such corroboration but the GOP won’t let her speak.
- NYT: “The New Yorker….reported that a fellow student, whom the publication did not identify, confirmed having learned of the incident—and Judge Kavanaugh’s alleged role in it—within a day or two after it happened.” This is an *extremely* probative contemporaneous disclosure.
Continuing, Abramson explains that The New York Times article takes the Ramirez allegation “from Indecent Exposure to Sexual Assault.”
Turning to Republican obstruction, Abramson continues:
- Ramirez’s attorney hasn’t been able to get the GOP to let her speak—even as the Judiciary Committee has scheduled a Kavanaugh vote. [currently scheduled for Friday, a mere 20 hours from hearing testimony from Ford and Kavanaugh]
- Senate Judiciary Committee Republicans unexpectedly setting a Friday vote on Kavanaugh—was beyond any doubt intended to foreclose Deborah Ramirez or any other woman’s testimony against Kavanaugh, which Sen. Cornyn (R-TX) has already called “nonsense.”
- Not one argument the GOP has made in its sustained attack on Kavanaugh’s accusers—the account isn’t corroborated, the accuser isn’t willing to waive confidentiality, the FBI has no ability to take a statement—applies to Ford or Ramirez. The GOP just doesn’t want two accusers.
- The Senate Judiciary Committee hearing from Ramirez would *in no way whatsoever* preclude Republicans from getting a final vote on Kavanaugh *pre-midterms*, so *none* of their excuses about Democrats trying to delay the Kavanaugh vote until post-midterms make *any* sense here.
- It’s thus clear that blocking Ramirez from telling her story of sexual assault at Kavanaugh’s hands is *exclusively* intended to a) avoid Kavanaugh having multiple accusers (affecting the GOP’s favored “he said, she said” narrative), and b) keeping other women from disclosing.
As noted above, Abramson concluded his analysis discussing the “obscene” disregard Republicans are expressing toward women:
- If Kavanaugh is confirmed, he’ll be one of *9 people governing US law* until roughly 2050. Given Ramirez’s corroboration, the ample time to hear from her, and the gravity of the vote, this is as obscene a statement of the GOP’s disregard for women’s bodies as we’ve ever seen.
Abramson included two sources at the end of his analysis for further review:
SOURCE/ Here’s the original New Yorker article. Tonight Rachel Maddow reported that Ramirez’s attorney set up a conference call with the Senate Judiciary Committee and Republicans refused to show up—a carefully orchestrated administrative slap in her face.
SOURCE2/ Senate Democrats are asking for very little: just a few days to look into Ramirez’s claims. Note: a pattern of behavior is established not just by Ford and Ramirez but *physical evidence*—the shocking statements Kavanaugh made in his own yearbook.
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