Bret Kavanaugh is a pathological liar and in any position of power he is a danger to society. I do not say this lightly, nor am I referring to Kavanaugh’s aberrant behavior that Dr. Christine Baisley Fordand others testified about: the attempted rape, sexual battery, drunkenness, blackouts and aggressions. All of that is important too.
What I am reporting on is the hundreds of times that Kavanaugh lied to Congress, while under oath, about his years in the early 2000’s as President Bush’s White House Staff Secretary. Among other things, one of his responsibilities was to assist Bush nominees for federal judges through the Senate confirmation process. During those confirmations processes, Kavanaugh received thousands of confidential emails, memorandums and talking points stolen from Democratic Senators’ computer servers by Republican Senate staff member Manuel Miranda.
At the time, Manuel Miranda was a staff member for the Republican majority leader, Republican Senator Bill Frist of Tennessee. The stolen confidential emails, memorandum and talking points (the documents) related to Democratic Senators’ strategies for Senate Judiciary Committee hearings on Bush nominations to the federal courts. Those stolen documents have now been made public, and there is no question that Miranda stole them and passed them on to Kavanaugh.
Yet from 2004 to 2006, when Kavanaugh was asked hundreds of time while under oathif he had received the stolen documents he consistently lied and committed perjury. This all occurred during his own contentious three year Senate confirmation hearings as a Bush nominee to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. He did not lie just a few times. He lied hundreds of times, and he lied about it again just a few days ago while being question for Senate confirmation to the US Supreme Court.
Here is the video record of Senator Patrick Leahy pressing Kavanaugh on the Bush-era stolen confidential documents:
Many of the stolen documents came from Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy’s office. Lisa Graves at the time was the chief counsel for nominations for the ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Below is what Lisa Graves has written for Slate [emphasis added]:
“I wrote some of the stolen memos that Brett Kavanaugh lied to the Senate about. He should be impeached, not elevated…..Newly released emails show that while he was working to move through President George W. Bush’s judicial nominees in the early 2000s, Kavanaugh received confidential memos, letters, and talking points of Democratic staffers stolen by GOP Senate aide Manuel Miranda….Kavanaugh should be removed because he was repeatedly asked under oath as part of his 2004 and 2006 confirmation hearings for his position on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit about whether he had received such information from Miranda, and each time he falsely denied it.”
Lisa Graves has also personally appeared for a video interview about Kavanaugh’s lying. Here is what she had to say to Marc Steiner of The Real News Network:
Kavanaugh has made these same lies, obfuscations and tried to change the subject hundreds of times, all while under oath, and to the FBI and other federal agents. He told these lies in 2004, 2006 and again during his confirmation process to the Supreme Court in 2018. Lying to Congress and the FBI are serious crimes. They are punishable by large fines and up to 5 years in prison.
Perjury is also an impeachable offense. Not only should Kavanaugh not be confirmed to a lifetime possession on the Supreme Court, but he should be impeached and removed from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.He should have to forfeit his pension, and be disbarred from the practice of law for the rest of his life.
The problem is that the Republicans have a slim majority in the Senate (51 to 49). Election Day is just a few weeks away on November 6th. Twenty-six of the thirty-five Senators up for re-election are Democrats. That puts a lot of pressure on Senators up for re-election. Democrats would benefit from a delay. So would some Republicans in close races. Senator Jeff Flake (R-AZ) wants a delay. In a tie vote Vice President Pence would cast the tie breaking vote, so one more Republican is needed to call for a delay. Two Republicans are being closely watched: Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK). If either one or both Collins and Murkowski request a delay, along with Flake, then a vote will not likely happen on Friday. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is pushing hard for that Friday vote.
Senators up for re-election are going to be paying special attention to their constituents’ telephone calls, emails and letters. You can get your Senator’s contact information on the US Senate web pagehttps://www.senate.gov/senators/contact .
Senator Bernie Sanders wrote a letter on Saturday, September 29th to the Judiciary Committee Chairman Senator Chuck Grassley demanding that a number of “inconsistencies” in Kavanaugh’s record and testimony be investigated fully. Here is the full text of the letter. What follows are some of the issues that Sanders raised for a thorough investigation, [emphasis added]:
“In his previous testimony before Congress, Judge Kavanaugh was asked more than 100 times if he knew about files stolen by Republican staffers from Judiciary Committee Democrats. He said he knew nothing. Emails released as part of these hearings show that these files were regularly shared with Kavanaugh while he was on the White House staff. One of the emails had the subject line “spying.” Was Judge Kavanaugh being truthful with the committee?
- In 2006 Judge Kavanaugh told Congress he did not know anything about the NSA warrantless wiretapping program prior to it being reported by the New York Times. This year an email revealed that while at the White House he might have been involved in some conversations about this program. Was Judge Kavanaugh being truthful with the committee?
- In 2004 Judge Kavanaugh testified the nomination of William Pryor to the 11th Circuit “was not one that I worked on personally.” Documents now contradict that statement. Newly released documents also call into question whether Judge Kavanaugh was truthful that the nomination of Charles Pickering “was not one of the judicial nominees that I was primarily handling.” Was Judge Kavanaugh being truthful with the committee?
- In 2006 Judge Kavanaugh testified, “I was not involved and am not involved in the questions about the rules governing detention of combatants.” New evidence released as part of these confirmation hearing contradicts that assertion. Was Judge Kavanaugh being truthful with the committee?
Additionally, several statements made by Judge Kavanaugh under oath regarding his treatment of women and his use of alcohol appear not to be true.”
Amazingly even after the Kavanaugh perjury has made the mainstream media, is being reported extensively by ‘alternative media’ such a Politico, Slate, The Real News Network, Vox and others, there is still a tremendous amount of political pressure to “wrapping up” the FBI investigation as early as Friday.
Dr. Christine Baisley Ford gave convincing testimony of Kavanaugh’s attempted rape of her, and there are substantiating allegations from other women. Kavanaugh’s drunkenness, his bad barroom and frat house behavior, and his most recent bizarre mental and emotional meltdowns during his Senate testimony all call for a thorough investigation.
What little we do know about Kavanaugh raises so many questions that they can only be answered by an extensive investigation that should take months. There are thousands of pages of his prior testimony and other documents that need careful scrutiny. Witnesses need vetting and some should be asked to take a polygraph test. Kavanaugh for one should take a polygraph test.
The surface of Kavanaugh’s criminal behavior has just been scratched. There is a lot more that should come out, and it is just below the surface. Let’s keep digging.
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This article was first published by the Greanville Post It is the original work of David William Pear. There is no copyright, and it is available free to any publication in the world that wants to publish it in any language. Editing is permitted for spelling errors, grammatical errors, to fit the space of the publication or any other purpose except to change the intended meaning of the article. You may change the title. You may use the suggested graphics, your own or none. Please share and distribute widely. Thank you. My contact email is [email protected]].
David William Pear is a Senior Contributing Editor for The Greanville Post. He is a progressive columnist writing on economic, political and social issues. He is also a regular columnist and commenter, and a former Senior Editor for on OpedNews.com. His articles have been published by The Real News Network, Truth Out, Consortium News, Russia Insider, Pravda and many other publications. David is a member of Veterans for Peace, St Pete for Peace, CodePink and International Solidarity Movement. In February of 2015 he was part of a people-to-people delegation to Cuba with CodePink. In November of 2015 he was a delegate with CodePink to Palestine to show solidarity with Palestinians. In 2016 David spent 10 weeks in Palestine with the Palestinian non-violent resistance group International Solidarity Movement (ISM). David frequently makes extended trips to Russia as a private citizen. After retiring from finance in 2009, David earned a certification as an Emergency Medical Technician. David is a Vietnam veteran having served as a member of the 5th Special Forces Group as a combat advisor to the Army of the Republic of (South) Viet Nam. David resides with his wife and three cats in Clearwater Beach, Florida.
