California Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein issued a statement on Thursday alluding to a letter she received that raised concerns about Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh — but the Wall Street Journal’s Kimberley Strassel suggested that the whole scenario didn’t exactly add up.
The letter, to which Feinstein referred in a vague statement, is believed to contain an allegation of some instance of misconduct involving Kavanaugh and a woman when they were both in high school.
Feinstein releases statement on secret Kavanaugh letter that’s roiled Capitol Hill — says she received information from an individual about Kavanaugh’s nomination, the individual declined to come forward, and she’s referred the matter to investigative authorities pic.twitter.com/lI4o6RJ1hP
— Casey Tolan (@caseytolan) September 13, 2018
But in Feinstein’s statement, Strassel saw a few things that were potentially problematic.
First problem: the accusation.
Strassel began by pointing out reports from the New York Times that suggested Feinstein had at least been aware of the letter’s existence since summer — and argued that if the accusation was truly damning enough to warrant an FBI investigation, it would have been reason enough for Feinstein to present it to authorities immediately.
1) On Feinstein’s referral of a letter with an accusation against Kavanaugh to the FBI:
–This is impt enough to be sent to FBI, but not impt enough to have been raised before now? Can’t be both. NYT reports she got the letter this summer.— Kimberley Strassel (@KimStrassel) September 13, 2018
Second problem: the handling.
Strassel went on to question whether a letter concerning enough to warrant a federal investigation should have been shared with Senate Republicans, who, just like their Democratic counterparts, were charged to “advise and consent” with regard to Kavanaugh’s nomination. Additionally, she suggested that if the accuser had explicitly stated a request to not take things further, Feinstein could be betraying that trust by going to the FBI.
2)
–similarly, this is impt enough to be sent to FBI, but never shared with a single Republican charged with advice and consent?
–Feinstein statement explicitly acknowledges that the accuser did not want to take this further. So why is it with the FBI?— Kimberley Strassel (@KimStrassel) September 13, 2018
Third problem: the timing.
Finally, Strassel argued that the timing of the letter’s introduction into public discourse “cannot be ignored” — it was made public only after Senate Democrats made numerous attempts to stall or delay Kavanaugh’s hearings, all of which were shut down.
3)
–timing here cannot be ignored. Coming only after Democrats were unable to further stall a vote.
–and just to be clear, Ds and media are now using a secret letter with a secret accusation from a secret person, to try to take down Kavanaugh. Scary.— Kimberley Strassel (@KimStrassel) September 13, 2018
Strassel’s overall assessment was that Democrats and the media were “using a secret letter with a secret accusation from a secret person, to try to take down Kavanaugh. Scary.”
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