Torching the republic: Smoke, mirrors, and gaslighting

Late last night, Mitch filed for a Senate cloture vote on the Brett Kavanaugh nomination. This was to ensure the Senate can still hold a Friday vote, even though no Senator had seen the FBI’s investigation report (Senators can read it, one at a time, starting early this morning).

On Monday, Jeff Flake said it was important to have a legitimate FBI investigation, not just one that gives Republicans “more cover” to vote for Kavanaugh. But as the vote looms, it’s clear all that Flake (and Ben Sasse, and other Republicans) care about is cover. Mitch is still shameless, but other Republicans are doing everything they can to preserve their reputations as principled people–everything, that is, except voting no.

The case against Kavanaugh

First, let’s recap what happened since Jeff Flake’s weak waffling on Friday.

Friday night, President Trump ordered the FBI to conduct a new investigation. On Saturday night, NBC News reported that the White House was severely restricting the FBI, limiting their investigation’s scope to just interviews of four individuals. The President adamantly denied this on Twitter, declaring the FBI’s scope to be wide open:

NBC News incorrectly reported (as usual) that I was limiting the FBI investigation of Judge Kavanaugh, and witnesses, only to certain people. Actually, I want them to interview whoever they deem appropriate, at their discretion. Please correct your reporting!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 30, 2018

Despite the blunt promise of a wide scope, the FBI wrapped up their investigation late Wednesday after interviewing only nine people, including Deborah Ramirez, known colloquially as the “second Kavanaugh accuser.” The list of people the FBI did not interview is substantial:

• Julie Swetnick, the so-called “third Kavanaugh accuser”, who submitted a sworn statement to the Senate Judiciary Committee indicating she witnessed Kavanaugh participate in drugging and gang raping girls in college;
• Chad Ludington, who publicly denounced Kavanaugh’s denials of drunkenness under oath as misleading (and recalled a specific incident, confirmed by The New York Times, where he witnessed Kavanaugh start a bar fight that led to a mutual friend’s arrest); or
• Several other former Kavanaugh classmates, including some who tried to contact the FBI with relevant information.

It’s also not clear whether the FBI spoke to Kerry Berchem, who tried to contact the FBI with evidence that Kavanaugh was trying to influence witnesses relevant to the Ramirez allegation two months before Ramirez’s allegations became public in a New Yorker article (which would contradict Kavanaugh’s sworn statement that he didn’t learn about Ramirez’s claims until the New Yorker’s exposé).

So, to recap, since Kavanaugh’s testimony last Friday, (1) the President of the United States declared that he had given the FBI free rein to conduct a thorough investigation, (2) multiple people tried to share evidence with the FBI that called Kavanaugh’s sworn testimony into question, (3) the FBI finished its investigation without interviewing those people, and (4) Mitch moved for a cloture vote before he even read the FBI’s report.

Yeah, that about sums it up.

In the meantime, the National Council of Churches called for Kavanaugh’s nomination to be withdrawn, and over 2,000 law professors called on the Senate to reject Kavanaugh. Both called out Kavanaugh for his partisan and partial hostility during last week’s hearing, saying such inappropriate and unprofessional behavior was disqualifying of any role on our nation’s highest court. In a true republic, it would be.

But in a Senate where the Majority Leader gives zero fucks? As promised, he’s “gonna plow right through” and confirm Kavanaugh no matter what. In the meantime, President Trump finally gave into his impulses and publicly mocked Christine Ford, a predictable event that led to every Republican swing vote condemning Trump. Flake, Collins and Murkowski took offense at Trump’s comments (while taking care to say this wouldn’t affect their vote).

There’s plenty of cover at this point for any principled Republican to oppose Kavanaugh. But instead they’re looking for just the opposite–cover to vote yes, and still retain a shiny veneer of principle over their dark, soulless hearts.

The (lack of) conscience of a conservative

Last week, Jeff Flake briefly attempted to imitate the actions of a principled human being, forcing an FBI investigation to happen after Flake voted to move Kavanaugh out of committee. As mentioned earlier, Flake claimed that this was about ensuring a thorough investigation, not just giving Republicans “more cover” for themselves.

Here’s Flake’s problem: The FBI investigation clearly didn’t go far enough, and will be remembered as an attempt to provide cover to any Republicans on the fence. What does he do now?

Apparently, Flake is embracing the cover, saying that the FBI report produced “no additional corroborating information” (an obvious outcome since they didn’t interview people calling them with corroborating information!). Sen. Susan Collins also said she believed the FBI conducted “a very thorough investigation” (despite indicating she hadn’t had time to fully read the report).

Shockingly, Senator Ben Sasse seemed to put himself into play last night in a speech on the Senate floor, as noted by The Hill:

“We all know that the president cannot lead us through this time. We know that he’s dispositionally unable to restrain his impulse to divide us. His mockery of Dr. Ford last night in Mississippi was wrong but it doesn’t really surprise anyone, it’s who he is,” Sasse said from the Senate floor.

And yet (as Vanity Fair and Rolling Stone have also observed), impassioned pleas for decency are not nearly enough. Men like Ben Sasse and Jeff Flake want to be seen as principled men, men who can rise above partisan politics and do the right thing, and yet they’ve been voting Trump’s way since Trump got elected. Being an actual man of principle is difficult and bears the consequences of actually making hard decisions. These fakers want the credit for being men of principle, but without voting any differently than their Republican peers. In a world where conservatives are still pretending that whole Merrick Garland thing never happened, is it a surprise to discover the few Republicans with an appearance of principles are just faking?

As Boston Globe columnist Michael Cohen put it, “Ben Sasse pretending to be on the fence regarding Kavanaugh is the most Ben Sasse thing ever.”

I do not eagerly await tomorrow’s vote. I do not wait with bated breath to learn if Flake or Sasse are capable of making meaningful choices. I reasonably assume they aren’t, and if I’m proven wrong, I’ll be pleasantly surprised. Until then, whether it’s an act or not, I condemn them for putting on a show of their conflict and uncertainty and then voting consistently with their tribe anyway.