Editors Note: This letter to the editor was submitted by Lucas Boyer, Young Americans for Freedom chairman. It is in response to a column titled “Kavanaugh hearing must be postponed,” which ran in the Sept. 17 issue of the NI. 

Content Warning: Explicit Description of Sexual Assault

The confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh has been a hot-button issue since his nomination by President Trump in July. Since then, serious allegations have been made against Kavanaugh by Dr. Christine Blasey Ford about an incident in 1982 where Kavanaugh allegedly forced himself on top of Ford while groping her. These allegations have significantly halted the confirmation of Judge Kavanaugh and an investigation concerning the assault has commenced.

Now, let’s get something off the table. Sexual assault is an issue that should be taken with absolute seriousness. If these allegations against Kavanaugh are true, he should not only have his Supreme Court nomination retracted, but should also resign from his current position on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. That’s if these allegations are indeed true.

In the time of the #MeToo movement, serious and credible allegations have surfaced against men in power. Harvey Weinstein, Matt Lauer, Roy Moore, and many others have all been credibly accused by multiple women with specific information regarding incidents in which they were sexually harassed, assaulted, and even raped. It is great to see that these horrifying stories have come to light, and that predators like these can be put to shame once and for all. However, the #MeToo movement is not without its flaws.

With sex becoming casual over the course of the past few decades, a more promiscuous population has become almost careless with regards to sexual activity. The casual approach to sex has also brought with it loosely defined boundaries, and with it, false allegations.

For example, in 2012, a female student accused members of a University of Virginia fraternity of “brutally gang-raping” her. These allegations were investigated for four months and found evidence given significantly lacked credibility. This was not before members of the fraternity were harassed severely, including spray paint damage to the chapter’s house, numerous windows being broken by bricks and cinder blocks, and members receiving “disparaging messages.”

A similar case took place when a woman accused members of the Duke University men’s lacrosse team of “dragging her into a bathroom, raping, beating and choking her for half an hour.” The subsequent investigation found no DNA matching the 46 team members tested in certain regions of the woman’s body, and that the accuser’s story contained numerous inconsistencies. Again, before all this was discovered, three students had been arrested, and numerous students and players were subjected to extreme harassment and in some cases threatening emails, despite little to no connection to the case.

Returning to the Kavanaugh case, we have a woman who has accused the nominee of acts that would be life-ruining if true. However, there are certain details that need further questioning like, “Where did the incident occur?” Simply stating, “A party at a house in Maryland” is not a sufficient answer. A polygraph test, administered by a former FBI agent, was also given to Ford in August. This is questionable however, as the American Psychological Association has stated, “There is no evidence that any pattern of physiological reactions is unique to deception. An honest person may be nervous when answering truthfully and a dishonest person may be non-anxious.”

The FBI has been called upon to investigate the matter, with almost no evidence to investigate. The information they have is that the incident occurred 36 years ago, and that it happened in Maryland. Lacking a specific time and place, with no contemporaneous accounts makes the evidence unsubstantiated and hard to believe.

There are other problems with the timing of the release of the allegations as well. Ford reportedly contacted Representative Anna Eshoo (CA-18) within days of Kavanaugh’s nomination and formally met with Eshoo on July 20th. After their meeting, Eshoo and Ford decided to bring the matter to Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) in late July/early August. With Senator Feinstein having knowledge of this information that early, why did she withhold the information for as long as she did? Anonymity and confidentiality have been the go-to answer, but those could have been maintained had she released the information earlier. The real answer is simple: to delay the hearing as long as humanly possible.

Whether or not these allegations are even true, the fact of the matter is, the respect that Ford deserves throughout the investigation has not been granted to her by the people who brought her story to light. They only care about the delay that can, and most certainly will occur, rather than the seriousness of her allegations.

Again, if Ford’s allegations are true Kavanaugh’s nomination should immediately be discarded. If not, then a man’s life and career are at stake on the basis of false accusations. If we want to get to the bottom of what really happened, we will have to hear Ford’s testimony on September 27, where she will testify under oath to the Senate Judiciary Committee.