PLEASE RT: Deborah Ramirez has given a *corroborated* account of sexual assault by Kavanaugh and Republicans refuse to meet with/speak to her despite the corroboration and her willingness to speak to the FBI under penalty of a felony for lying. This should be the top story on TV.
2/ In sex crime cases, corroboration often takes the form of a contemporaneous disclosure to a third party regarding the incident and the alleged assailant—according to this NYT story, Deborah Ramirez has such corroboration but the GOP won't let her speak.
3/ NYT: "The New Yorker....reported that a fellow student, whom the publication did not identify, confirmed having learned of the incident—and Judge Kavanaugh’s alleged role in it—within a day or two after it happened." This is an *extremely* probative contemporaneous disclosure.
4/ The report indicated Kavanaugh's penis made contact with Ramirez due to Kavanaugh's actions—taking this from Indecent Exposure to Sexual Assault. Ramirez's attorney hasn't been able to get the GOP to let her speak—even as the Judiciary Committee has scheduled a Kavanaugh vote.
5/ The breaking news tonight—Senate Judiciary Committee Republicans unexpectedly setting a Friday vote on Kavanaugh—was beyond any doubt intended to foreclose Deborah Ramirez or any other woman's testimony against Kavanaugh, which Sen. Cornyn (R-TX) has already called "nonsense."
6/ Not one argument the GOP has made in its sustained attack on Kavanaugh's accusers—the account isn't corroborated, the accuser isn't willing to waive confidentiality, the FBI has no ability to take a statement—applies to Ford or Ramirez. The GOP just doesn't want two accusers.
7/ Kavanaugh himself said to FNC that he wanted the process to be "fair," and acknowledged that only allowing him and Ford to speak pre-vote (without any other witnesses or investigation) is only "bare minimum" due process—*not* normal process. Was he lying when he admitted that?
8/ The Senate Judiciary Committee hearing from Ramirez would *in no way whatsoever* preclude Republicans from getting a final vote on Kavanaugh *pre-midterms*, so *none* of their excuses about Democrats trying to delay the Kavanaugh vote until post-midterms make *any* sense here.
9/ It's thus clear that blocking Ramirez from telling her story of sexual assault at Kavanaugh's hands is *exclusively* intended to a) avoid Kavanaugh having multiple accusers (affecting the GOP's favored "he said, she said" narrative), and b) keeping other women from disclosing.
10/ If Kavanaugh is confirmed, he'll be one of *9 people governing US law* until roughly 2050. Given Ramirez's corroboration, the ample time to hear from her, and the gravity of the vote, this is as obscene a statement of the GOP's disregard for women's bodies as we've ever seen.
SOURCE/ Here's the original New Yorker article. Tonight Rachel Maddow reported that Ramirez's attorney set up a conference call with the Senate Judiciary Committee and Republicans refused to show up—a carefully orchestrated administrative slap in her face. newyorker.com/news/news-desk…
SOURCE2/ Senate Democrats are asking for very little: just a few days to look into Ramirez's claims. Note: a pattern of behavior is established not just by Ford and Ramirez but *physical evidence*—the shocking statements Kavanaugh made in his own yearbook.
NOTE/ In the interest of full transparency with my readers, which I have insisted upon from Day 1 on this feed, you should know that Brian Stelter of CNN (@brianstelter) has called the tweet atop this thread a "lie." Here is my response to him (a thread):
@brianstelter UPDATE/ I tried to DM Brian Stelter, but his DMs are closed to queries (at least that's what Twitter says). My DMs have been open to all from Day 1 of this feed. I've asked Brian publicly (on-feed) to retract his claim that I lied, but I have received no response from him as yet.
