Investigative Report: Judge Brett Kavanaugh Confirmation Hearing

The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) mission is upholding the law by conducting investigations relating to the violation of the federal criminal law. One of the key roles of the FBI is protecting the United States and its citizens from foreign and terror attacks. Besides, this security branch is also mandated with providing law enforcement assistance to local, state and federal agencies. Essentially, the FBI assigns an agent to conduct an investigation and all necessary FBI resources remain at the disposal of the agent until the investigation is completed. This report details key findings from an investigation into sexual assault accusations brought against the supreme court judge nominee Brett Kavanaugh. I was the agent in charge of carrying out this investigation.

Who?

Christine Blasey Ford accused Brett Kavanaugh of alleged sexual assault. Considering the fact that Kavanaugh is a nominee for the supreme court, his confirmation cannot be effected until he has been cleared of all of the accusations that have been leveled against him in the course of his probe. The sexual assault allegation is probably the most damning of all considering Kavanaugh’s status as a key figure in the American judicial system. Christine Blasey, the plaintiff is a professor of psychology at Palo Alto University (Kiggins & Wolf, 2018). It is important to note that unlike conventional criminal investigations, this one was unique in the sense that the investigation, in this case, was simply a background check on Kavanaugh. Additionally, the background checks conducted on Kavanaugh following these fresh allegations falls in the category of separate services offered by the FBI. Notably, while the accuser was Christine Blasey Ford, the investigation was ordered by the White House after Republican senator Jeff Flake stated that he would only vote for Kavanaugh if the investigation was done.

What?

Blasey accused Kavanaugh of assaulting her when they were in high school in 1982. To reinforce these accusations, Ford’s attorney presented declarations to the senate judiciary committee to as confirmation that the assault did happen. According to Blasey, Kavanaugh groped her after pinning her on the party and he made an attempt to pull off her clothes. While the four declarations submitted to the committee acknowledged that this did happen, Kavanaugh denied all these allegations. One of the witnesses acknowledged that the incident happened, Gildo-Mazzon stated that Blasey was fortunate to escape before Kavanaugh assaulted her further. Then, in her testimony, Gildo stated that Blasey had been locked up in a room with two individuals one of who was Kavanaugh (Kiggins & Wolf, 2018). The other person in the room was not revealed and Kavanaugh denied the allegations.

When?

The incident leading to the allegations leveled against Kavanaugh by Blasey was said to  take place in 1982 when both the accused and the claimant were high school students. According to Blasey, Kavanaugh’s intentions were worse than just groping her and she was only lucky to flee before she could be assaulted further. However, she did not report the incident in the year that the incident took place. In June 2013, however, Blasey revealed to her confidant, Adela Gildo-Mazzon, what had transpired and later, in 2016 she opened up to Keith Koegler about what had happened. Both Mazzon and Koegler went ahead to present declarations confirming Blasey’s allegations during the hearing.

Where?

Both Kavanaugh and Blasey were students at suburban Maryland high school but the alleged assault is said to take place on a party in the fall of 1982 (Kiggins & Wolf, 2018). This is visibly a long time ago which prompted Senator Hatch to state that Blasey must have mistaken Kavanaugh for her assailant. Apparently, Kavanaugh told the senator that he was not at the party as Blasey claimed and as such he could have been her assailant. Additionally, Blasey acknowledged to the Washington Post that she could not recall some of the key details which shed even more doubt in her allegations. Considering these conflicting recollections, the major challenge posed by the hearing was that whoever made the most convincing case was going to win but whether that would be just or not would still remain largely unclear.

Why?

One of the major questions asked during the hearing was the reason why Blasey had to wait for nearly 35 years to table her allegations against judge Kavanaugh. The reason for this was that after high school and after the alleged assault had taken place, Blasey left Washington to go and reinvent herself in some other place. Additionally, Blasey stated that she was preteen when the assault happened and so her tender age coupled with the trauma she experienced, held her back from coming forward. Having healed over the years and being appalled by Kavanaugh’s nomination as an associate of the Supreme Court, Blasey was prompted to come forward. However, after weeks of hearings, she opted to desist from pursuing the allegations further following Kavanaugh’s confirmation as an associate of the Supreme Court by the Senate committee.

References

Kiggins, S., & Wolf, R. (2018). Kavanaugh accuser Christine Blasey Ford offers Senate four people she told about assault claims. Retrieved from https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2018/09/26/brett-kavanaugh-christine-blasey-ford-told-four-people-sexual-assault-claims/1429270002/