If you’re investigating a matter as a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, you’d probably be best served to remain neutral. Or at least you would think so.
Testimony by Christine Blasey Ford during Thursday’s hearing with her and Brett Kavanaugh indicates she got a little help from a certain California Senator. In fact, it was the Senator who helped get the ball rolling on this entire bogus investigation in the first place.
During questioning by sex crimes prosecutor Rachel Mitchell, Ford initially stated that it was her friends that helped her find legal representation. It is an answer that was evasive at best.
Probed further, she admitted that at least one of her lawyers came about as a suggestion from Dianne Feinstein’s office.
Mitchell asks Blasey Ford if she had help choosing her lawyers. She said she got advice from people she knows in the D.C. area to get referrals, and got suggestions from Feinstein’s staff.
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) September 27, 2018
“Which of your two lawyers did Senator Feinstein’s office recommend?” asked Mitchell.
Ford responded, “The Katz firm.”
Katz, not shockingly, describes herself as a ‘committed’ member of the resistance, is a longtime Democrat donor, and has referred to supporters of President Trump as “miscreants.”
Feinstein didn’t feel this bit of information was relevant, most assuredly because it displays impropriety. It solidifies the fact that Feinstein knew about the allegations leveled against Kavanaugh before the letter was released to the FBI on September 12th. It also suggests a level of strategic maneuvering between her and a woman she’s supposed to objectively evaluate during these hearings.
If Feinstein thought it was important enough to advise Ford on what lawyer to hire, and then met with Kavanaugh without raising the issues that required a lawyer, shame on Feinstein. That is called a set up.
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) September 27, 2018
One would have to assume the suggestion to hire a lawyer occurred on day 1 of Feinstein learning of the accusation, in the form of a letter on July 30th.
Feinstein sat on that letter for 6 weeks. The Washington Post article revealed that Katz had already been involved with the polygraph which was administered on August 7th. Feinstein would later notify the FBI on September 12th.
In the meantime, she met with Kavanaugh in private in August and didn’t reveal any problems.
“Did the ranking member raise these allegations in your one-on-one meeting with her last month?” asked Senator Orrin Hatch.
“She did not,” Kavanaugh replied.
Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearings took place between September 4th – 7th. Hatch again asked if Feinstein had mentioned the allegations at this point. She hadn’t, and she certainly hadn’t revealed her ties to the accuser either.
In fact, Kavanaugh testified that he didn’t even know about the allegations until the Post story was published on September 16th.
Ford’s legal team had been well-entrenched by that time, meaning Feinstein knew about the accusation, recommended she speak to Katz, and then met with Kavanaugh without ever mentioning it to anyone.
The very definition of a setup. Shame on Feinstein, indeed.
