Calls for Kavanaugh Impeachment After New Allegations
Andrew Harnik, The Associated Press
We ran the numbers: There are 1920 news articles covering this topic. 26% (494) are left leaning, 47% (897) center, 28% (529) right leaning.
On Sunday, the New York Times published an article detailing new allegations of sexual assault committed by Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. The article reports that Deborah Ramirez, a classmate of Kavanaugh’s at Yale, alleges that Kavanaugh thrust his penis at her during a party. The article also reports that a classmate of Kavanaugh’s while at Yale recalls Kavanaugh thrusting his penis into the hand of an unwilling female classmate. The female classmate, however, does not recall the event, a fact that the Times article did not initially include. . Kavanaugh faced allegations of sexual assault during his conformation process last year. Accuser Dr. Christine Blasey Ford testified in his conformation hearing about being assaulted by Kavanaugh while at Yale. Kavanaugh denied the allegations, was investigated in an inconclusive FBI probe, and was confirmed to the court. In light of the new allegations, many Democrats have called for Kavanaugh’s impeachment from the Supreme Court.
A left-leaning article from the Washington Post looks back at Kavanaugh’s confirmation process in 2018 and suggests that the FBI probe into the alleged assaults was incomplete. The article reads, “It was obvious at the time that the FBI probe would not be seen as dispositive, as The Post’s reporting from October 2018 makes clear. As a result, it was perhaps inevitable that the emergence of new details about the Kavanaugh-related incidents would reintroduce questions over his nomination and the vote to confirm him to the Supreme Court.” The article also notes that the FBI was given one week to complete the investigation and suggests that such a time frame was insufficient for a robust investigation. Left-leaning articles in general focus on the allegations and the resulting calls for Kavanaugh’s impeachment.
A right-leaning article from Fox News, conversely, reports on the reactions of Republican legislators to the calls for impeachment. In particular, the article focuses on the reaction of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who has accused Democrats of “rushing to exploit” the new reports of sexual misconduct. The article also notes that 2020 Democratic candidates Kamala Harris and Elizabeth Warren have called for Kavanaugh’s impeachment. The article also observes “South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, the Judiciary Committee chairman who mounted one of the most passionate defenses of Kavanaugh during his confirmation hearing, called the attacks ‘beyond the pale.’” Graham has promised that Kavanaugh will not be impeached.
In response to the Times article detailing the new allegations as well as the controversy surrounding that article, the centrist NPR interviewed Robin Pogrebin and Kate Kelly, authors of the article and the forthcoming book, The Education of Brett Kavanaugh, that the article is based on. The authors argue that Ramirez’s account of sexual misconduct “never got its due” during Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearings because Republican legislators “clearly had no interest in adding yet another story and another potential victim to the public dialogue.”
From the left
Kavanaugh’s confirmation hinged on an FBI investigation that increasingly looks incomplete
Washington Post
From the right
Kavanaugh attacks see top Republicans lash out; McConnell claims 'this is not normal'
Fox News