After Sen. Dianne Feinstein dropped the letter she’d been sitting on for six weeks, Brett Kavanaugh was said to have been “credibly accused.” His accuser would testify, but she set many conditions. She wanted Kavanaugh to go first. She didn’t want independent counsel. She was afraid to fly. Most of us doubted she would even show, but she did, and she told “her truth,” as Sen. Cory Booker put it.
The FBI did the supplemental background check the Democrats and Christine Blasey Ford’s lawyers had insisted on. After viewing the FBI report, Democrats looked like their dog had just died.
So we’re gonna say it: after all we’ve seen and heard, we think it’s kind to say you believe Dr. Ford in any capacity. Was she sexually assaulted in high school? She says she was, but failed to prove that or that it was Brett Kavanaugh who assaulted her.
So we have no problem with Sen. Susan Collins saying she believes Dr. Ford believed what she was saying under oath. It’s more compassionate than we could muster. But some journalists are having a problem with her logic.
Sam Stein of the Daily Beast says it just doesn’t add up.
“I believe she believed what she testified to,” Susan Collins told @DanaBashCNN of Christine Blasey Ford. “I do not believe Brett Kavanaugh was her assailant.”
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) October 6, 2018
in other words: i didn't believe her https://t.co/Cl6MD5hv2J
— Sam Stein (@samstein) October 6, 2018
it's pretty straight forward.
Dr. Ford said she was 100 percent certain that Kavanaugh was the one who assaulted her.
If you (Susan Collins included) say that Kavanaugh wasn't involved then you, definitionally, don't believe Dr. Ford.
— Sam Stein (@samstein) October 6, 2018
Which of her accounts don't I believe? P.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh https://t.co/3cHzglyGd3
— Anthony Bialy (@AnthonyBialy) October 6, 2018
Like we said, credit to Collins for allowing Ford some dignity after having provided shifting narratives, no corroborating evidence, and withholding evidence: her therapist’s notes.
Of course, CNBC’s John Harwood would make an issue of it too.
hard to understand how Collins reached that conclusion https://t.co/zHwYLIdl4f
— John Harwood (@JohnJHarwood) October 6, 2018
sounds like she finds that Ed Whelan doppelganger theory persuasive after all
— John Harwood (@JohnJHarwood) October 6, 2018
Or maybe she’s just saying exactly what she’s saying: Dr. Ford believed what she was saying, even if it wasn’t true.
Easy to understand. She's lying. Just as she was lying every time she said she hadn't reached a decision on Kavanaugh. Part of her schtick of being treated as a "moderate" Republican. She's not.
— Barbara Morrill (@BarbinMD) October 6, 2018
The nuance. “I believe she believed” vs “I do not believe” = @SenatorCollins doesn’t believe Dr Ford but doesn’t have the spine to say it directly. Collins listened to the credible testimony of Dr Ford & the belligerent self-pitying testimony of Kavanaugh & comes out believing K.
— Jennifer Bennon (@jennobenno) October 6, 2018
Replace Dr. Ford's name with the name of any of the other women who have courageously come forward & accused Kavanaugh of sexual abuse & Collins would use the same comment to defend Kavanaugh. Disgraceful, Collins continues to insult every woman who was abused calling them LIARS
— Bruno Hugo (@BHPIII13) October 6, 2018
Then @SenatorCollins DOES NOT BELIEVE DR. BLASEY FORD. Senator Collins is a phony and a hypocrite.
— Tootsie (@tootsie1953) October 6, 2018
Don't think it's possible for women to hate Susan Collins as much as Susan Collins hates women.
— Gordon Gekko Cell LLC (@GordonGekkoCell) October 6, 2018
Susan Collins and her husband work for Putin.
— Eda deck (@bustedboutique) October 6, 2018
That theory would be solid if Collins were proved wrong, but it looks like Ford is out of the game and not playing anymore, so no more testimony from her.
NEW: Christine Blasey Ford has no further plans to pursue her sexual misconduct allegations against Brett Kavanaugh, according to her attorneys – ABC
— Michael Moates (@freedom_moates) October 6, 2018
And yes, Collins Derangement Syndrome is real:
It’s sad to see writers in the New York Times slowly descend into drivel and absurd hyperbole due to… Collins Derangement Syndrome? pic.twitter.com/WOfknXJzfo
— Brad Polumbo (@brad_polumbo) October 6, 2018
Related:
No police report, then? Christine Blasey Ford will not pursue her allegations any further https://t.co/CAwOXK8KXd
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) October 6, 2018
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