If you suspected
that the FBI investigation into
Trump's Supreme Court nominee
Brett Kavanaugh was a sham
investigation, you'd be correct.
Because new reporting by the New
York Times indicates that the FBI
and the whole process of the
investigation was not only lacked
the thorough nature necessary to
do a real investigation.
The important tips that came to
the FBI, were then transitioned
over to the executive branch, which
had no real interest in doing the
investigation in the first place.
So the FBI assistant director,
Jill Tyson said that the most
relevant of the 4500 tips that
the agency received during an
investigation into Kavanagh's past.
Were referred to White House
lawyers in the Trump
administration, who is handling of
them remains unclear.
Now this was a letter that the FBI
assistant director sent to
Democratic members of the Senate
who wanted some clarity about what
really transpired during that
investigation.
For those of you who were
wondering, wait,
what was that investigation again?
It was after a former classmate of
Brett Kavanaugh, Dr.
Christine Blasi Ford came forward
with allegations of attempted rape.
In fact, she testified about that
under oath and I want to remind you
all about what she said.
>> Early in the evening, I went up
a very narrow set of stairs,
leading from the living room to
a second floor to use the restroom.
When I got to the top of
the stairs,
I was pushed from behind into
a bedroom across from the bathroom.
I couldn't see who pushed me, Brett
and Mark came into the bedroom and
locked the door behind them.
There was music playing in
the bedroom, it was turned up
louder by either Brett or
Mark once we were in the room.
I was pushed on to the bed and
Brett got on top of me,
he began running his hands over my
body and grinding into me.
I yelled, hoping that someone
downstairs might hear me and
I tried to get away from him but
his weight was heavy.
Brett groped me and tried to take
off my clothes I had a hard time
because he was very in need and
because I was wearing a one piece
bathing suit underneath my
clothing.
I believed he was going to rape me,
I tried to yell for help.
When I did, Brett put his hand over
my mouth to stop me from yelling,
this is what
terrified me the most and this had
the most lasting impact on my life.
It was hard for
me to breathe that I thought that
Brett was accidentally going to
kill me.
>> She managed to escape but
her testimony before the senate
judiciary committee was so
compelling that a republican
senator Jeff Flake called for
an investigation, watch.
>> I think it would be proper to
delay the floor vote for up to but
not more than one week in order
to let the FBI continue to do
an investigation limited in
time and scope to the current
allegations that are there.
And limited in time to no more than
one week, and
I will vote to advance the bill to
the floor with that understanding.
>> So what Senator Flake was
calling for there wasn't even in
my opinion enough, right.
He was calling for a limited
investigation one week long,
which I'd argue isn't enough time
to do an investigation.
But the FBI wrapped it up within
a week, it wasn't even
a full week of investigation, and
now we're learning more details.
For instance,
the agency was conducting
a background check rather than
a criminal investigation.
Meaning that the authorities,
policies and procedures used to
investigate criminal matters did
not apply and the investigation was
fishy from the start.
Here's more detail into it.
The Trump White House carefully
controlled the investigations into
Kavanaugh's past.
After Dr. Ford came forward,
Trump's staff tried to limit
the number of people the FBI
interviewed as part of that probe.
Only after an outcry from Democrats
over the president's approach,
did the administration say
the agency could
conduct a more open investigation.
But ultimately,
ultimately only ten witnesses
were interviewed by the FBI, Dr.
Ford and Kavanaugh themselves were
never interviewed by the FBI.
And also in a recent interview with
the author Michael Wolff,
Trump put his handling of justice
Cavanaugh into Stark terms, asking
where would he be without me?
I saved his life, yeah,
he helped Kavanaugh get confirmed
into the Supreme Court even though
there were credible allegations of
attempted rape against him which
were not thoroughly investigated.
It's just Dr.
Richie, I want to bring you in.
I want to hear your thoughts on all
of this because it's just,
it's a story that's kind of haunted
me ever since it all took place and
now we're learning more details and
of course it was a sham
investigation.
>> Yeah I remember reporting on
this on my radio show.
Her testimony was so compelling,
she has tons of credibility.
She had so much to lose getting
involved in something like that
when you are a career professional,
when you have significant
connections to your profession and
the community.
And you know how they have already
demonized others that would dare
tell the truth.
Here's the greatest example you
will find of white
privilege in the United States.
A man is still a Supreme Court
justice with credible allegations
like this, it did not pause
the Republicans, they did it in
record time, how do you do that?
And this is what I cannot
understand, Anna and I really
don't seek to understand it.
I have a mom, I have aunties, I
have sisters, I have a daughter, I
don't care what my politics may be.
If I hear this about
someone who I'm in position to say
they're going to become one of
the most powerful people on
the planet Earth, that has to give
me pause just as a human being, but
it gave them none.
>> Yeah, I mean,
I remember Lindsey Graham [LAUGH]
breaking out in complete spectacle
in order to make it seem as though
Brett Kavanaugh was the real victim
here.
I mean, it was just absolutely
shameful and look when the right
wing wants to accomplish something,
they will stop at nothing.
And in this case, there's been
a decade's long project
by right wing organizations funded
by right wing donors to essentially
skew every branch of government in
favor of conservatives.
Which is why Donald Trump succeeded
in confirming not
just three supreme court justices,
but hundreds, literally hundreds
of federal judges.
And we're going to be feeling
the ramifications of that for
the rest of our lives, really?
And so when we talk about strategic
voting or electoral politics,
as I've said a million times on
the show, it is not the end all be
all an organizing outside pressure.
That's also an important part of
this, organized labor that's
an important part of this.
But to pretend as though electoral
politics means nothing, anyone who
tries to convince you of that or
persuade you of that wants your
side to lose, period.
These elections are important,
because while there are certainly
many issues with
the Democratic Party, I would argue
I'd rather have a member of the
Democratic Party nominating federal
judges and Supreme Court justices.
As opposed to right wingers who
are doing so specifically to
protect corporate interests and
conservative values in this
country.
>> Yeah, I agree with you.
And it's like this,
Democrats don't do enough, but
republicans don't do a damn thing.
So if you were in a framework where
you have to make a decision with
one or the other be strategic about
your decision, obviously, while at
the same time pushing the overall
agenda in the right direction.
But you're right, Anna there's so
many individuals who will say,
well I don't participate in
electoral politics.
Because they're all corrupt, or
none of them go far and now for
none of them,
really hold my agenda.
Well, remember, you have to
continue to push the agenda,
this is chess, not checkers and
here's what I mean when I say that.
And checkers, you're used to
making a move in order to win or
to take a piece off the board,
in chess each move is to position
yourself for the ultimate move.
And if we're not thinking in that
context, if we're thinking that one
move has to rule the board.
Rather than thinking that we
are strategically moving various
pieces at various times so
that we can have the ultimate
position in order to win this game.
Then we're failing at the game of
politics.
>> Absolutely, and
as much as I hate to admit it,
right wing groups have been playing
chess.
They have been
thinking strategically,
and that's the reason why they've
been able to win the courts.
And it's really scary stuff when
you think about all the efforts and
all the effort that needs to be put
into various victories.
Let's say something as important as
Medicare for all for instance,
Medicare for
all could be struck down by
a conservative Supreme Court.
So even if we finally make headway
on important policies that we want
to accomplish.
If the Federal Courts and
the Supreme Court is taken over
by right wing judges,
if that policy is still incredibly
vulnerable to getting struck down.
So these are all things to think
about as we end up with,
the inevitable debates about who to
vote for, and whether or
not electoral politics matters.
But when I think of
Brett Kavanaugh, I remember why
it is that it was so important to
defeat Donald Trump in 2016.
Even if the person he was running
against wasn't my favorite
candidate by any stretch of
the imagination.
To know that we have someone like
Brett Kavanaugh is a Supreme Court
justice right now is just a reality
that I wish I didn't have to live
with, but we do.
And now we know for
sure that that investigation didn't
even scratch the surface,
it's just absolutely shameful.