Kavanaugh has a credibility problem and a Kozinski problem. @danepps’s comments are roughly consistent with what we heard in 1999 as law students.
As a 2L, I was told that women “don’t apply” to clerk for Judge Kozinski. It is not credible that Kavanaugh didn’t know something. 1/
As a 2L, I was told that women “don’t apply” to clerk for Judge Kozinski. It is not credible that Kavanaugh didn’t know something. 1/
2/ Kavanaugh said he was “shocked” by the Kozinski harassment allegations, a “gut punch.”
Incredible.
Because it was a badly kept secret among Yale Law students in the late 90s that Kozinski had some kind of problem with women. amp.slate.com/news-and-polit…
Incredible.
Because it was a badly kept secret among Yale Law students in the late 90s that Kozinski had some kind of problem with women. amp.slate.com/news-and-polit…
3/ I was a 2L when Judge Kozinski was a guest speaker in one of our classes. He was a big name, a feeder judge for SCOTUS, and so Yale 2Ls were psyched. He was smart, funny, charming.
After class, the conversation turned to who’d be clerking for him the next two years. All men.
After class, the conversation turned to who’d be clerking for him the next two years. All men.
4/ Someone notes that Kozinski seemed to hire men only.
I remember the answer, and obviously I’m paraphrasing:
Women don’t really apply to Kozinski, probably because Kozinski doesn’t hire women.
I remember the answer, and obviously I’m paraphrasing:
Women don’t really apply to Kozinski, probably because Kozinski doesn’t hire women.
5/ Not hiring women isn’t the same as harassing women. But the word at Yale in 1999 was “Women, don’t bother applying to Kozinski.”
The reason might have been fuzzy, but you knew something was off.
That was almost 20 years ago.
The reason might have been fuzzy, but you knew something was off.
That was almost 20 years ago.
6/ And I was relatively out of the loop on clerking. I was a JD/PhD student with a wife working in New Haven, so I’d be applying to New Haven judges the following year. If I’d heard this about Kozinski, I think it was widely known.
Then around 2010, a journalist contacted me...
Then around 2010, a journalist contacted me...
7/ The journalist has heard stories of Kozinski harassing women, but no one would go on the record. The backlash would be too big. She asked if I knew anything, and I told her just what I’ve written here: Students knew Kozinski had a problem with women...
8/ So I gave her a list of professors to ask. But I guess there was not enough corroboration to run a story. But the point is that word was out about eight years ago.
Kavanaugh says he was "shocked" by the Kozinski allegations. I don't know many profs my age who were "shocked."
Kavanaugh says he was "shocked" by the Kozinski allegations. I don't know many profs my age who were "shocked."
9/ @MonicaHakimi, my friend and classmate, confirms my recollections from YLS. Thanks, Monica. And I've got more to say on all this...
10/ Kavanaugh/Kozinski Continued.
Why does this matter?
This is not just about the conduct of a 17-year-old.
It's about his honesty as a powerful adult, and how he has used that tremendous power.
Read @Dahlialithwick: slate.com/news-and-polit…
Why does this matter?
This is not just about the conduct of a 17-year-old.
It's about his honesty as a powerful adult, and how he has used that tremendous power.
Read @Dahlialithwick: slate.com/news-and-polit…
11/ So Kavanaugh claimed to be "shocked" and gut-punched by the Kozinski allegations.
Another reason to be dubious: The strange story of how he started his clerkship for Judge Kozinski.
Alex Azar, now HHS Sec, was fired after 6 weeks - and then rescued.
abovethelaw.com/2018/09/could-…
Another reason to be dubious: The strange story of how he started his clerkship for Judge Kozinski.
Alex Azar, now HHS Sec, was fired after 6 weeks - and then rescued.
abovethelaw.com/2018/09/could-…
12/ @politico: "Azar spent 6 weeks clerking for Kozinski in 1991 before abruptly departing - a previously undisclosed chapter in the HHS Sec’s fast-rising career. (Azar swiftly got another clerkship with Judge Luttig, who had been freshly appointed," then clerked for Scalia.
13/ "Why the departure? Yale Law prof George Priest, who placed Azar with Kozinski, recently told the AP that “there were problems in the chambers” and [Azar] was fired. Priest then arranged for Brett Kavanaugh to replace Azar as Kozinski’s clerk."
This is highly unusual.
This is highly unusual.
14/ To be clear: It was known at Yale in 1999 that Kozinski had some kind of "problem with women," but probably not in 1991, and Azar is obviously not a woman.
But this story should send up red flags.
Fired clerks usually don't get rescued like this. By a judge like Luttig?
But this story should send up red flags.
Fired clerks usually don't get rescued like this. By a judge like Luttig?
16/ I am NOT suggesting that Kavanaugh's experience in 1991 was a hint that Kozinski had sexual harassment issues.
But when I think about the strange circumstances that put him in Kozinski's chambers, plus what I'd heard in 1999 and 2010ish, I have more doubts about his claims.
But when I think about the strange circumstances that put him in Kozinski's chambers, plus what I'd heard in 1999 and 2010ish, I have more doubts about his claims.
17/ Plus this story in 2008, another major hint about potential workplace problems.
Kavanaugh worked closely with Kozinski for years on Kennedy's clerk selection committee, but suspected nothing? Did nothing?
It doesn't mean he assaulted someone...
latimes.com/local/la-me-ko…
Kavanaugh worked closely with Kozinski for years on Kennedy's clerk selection committee, but suspected nothing? Did nothing?
It doesn't mean he assaulted someone...
latimes.com/local/la-me-ko…
18/...and I've never suggested Kavanaugh committed perjury (see this balanced fact-check). But there are consequences when adults aren't candid AND give so many misleading answers under oath.
This is about the judgment and integrity of adults.
washingtonpost.com/politics/2018/…
This is about the judgment and integrity of adults.
washingtonpost.com/politics/2018/…
