And Now We’ve Moved To The Adult Assault Stage Of The Kavanaugh Accusations

My post from 3:20 p.m. detailing all of the allegations against Brett Kavanaugh is already outdated. An anonymous accuser has sent a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee, claiming that she saw Brett Kavanaugh slam a woman against a wall “very aggressively and sexually,” when he was drunk and coming out of a bar.

NBC News has the report:

According to an anonymous complaint sent to Republican Sen. Cory Gardner of Colorado, Kavanaugh physically assaulted a woman he socialized with in the Washington, D.C., area in 1998 while he was inebriated.

The sender of the complaint described an evening involving her own daughter, Kavanaugh and several friends in 1998.

“When they left the bar (under the influence of alcohol) they were all shocked when Brett Kavanaugh, shoved her friend up against the wall very aggressively and sexually.”

“There were at least four witnesses including my daughter.” The writer of the letter provided no names but said the alleged victim was still traumatized and had decided to remain anonymous herself.

Kavanaugh would have been 33 at the time.

How many women have to come forward alleging inappropriate behavior on the part of Brett Kavanaugh for any one of them to be believed?

When Christine Blasey Ford came forward, the argument from Kavanaugh defenders was that her allegations fit no known “pattern” of behavior from him. We have seen with other #MeToo allegations that sexual predators have a pattern, and assault or harass more than one woman.

The Senate Republicans tried to rush the nomination through, before Brett Kavanaugh’s pattern could be revealed.

But now, it seems we know the pattern. Brett Kavanaugh has now been accused by multiple women — women from high school, college, and now as a 33-year-old Washington lawyer — of getting drunk and engaging in misconduct. Brett Kavanaugh has accused himself, over email, of getting drunk and growing aggressive with friends.

Alcohol is the pattern. Any person who has been an alcoholic, or has known an alcoholic, or has simply been or known a “mean drunk” can see that now. Brett Kavanaugh might be a “decent” man when he is sitting in his office, quietly considering how best to take away women’s rights — if that’s your definition of decent. But when he gets drinks or gets drunk, the allegations suggest he turns into a monster.

Who knows how many alcoholics we’ve had on the Supreme Court over the years. Probably a lot. Given how desperate Republicans are to put this man on the Supreme Court, I can even imagine an alternate timeline where Kavanaugh admitted that he had a drinking problem, detailed how he sought help, and apologized for all of his past transgressions. It wouldn’t make a difference to me, as I don’t think “I was drunk” is a sufficient response to an allegation of attempted rape. But… Susan Collins is out here lying to herself and saying that Kavanaugh will uphold Roe. Who knows what these Republicans are capable of making themselves believe in their quest to reshape the Supreme Court of a generation.

However, we’re not living in that alternate timeline. Brett Kavanaugh has not admitted he has any kind of drinking problem. He instead has said that he has never gotten blackout drunk, even though his own emails contradict that statement. He has told us that all the women, ALL OF THEM, must be lying because he categorically denies any behavior even “like” what he has been accused of. He has not sought help. He has not asked forgiveness. He has not taken personal responsibility for his actions.

He has, it appears, lied about his past behavior. And he’s been stone cold sober while he’s doing it.

Senate probing new allegation of misconduct against Kavanaugh [NBC News]

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Elie Mystal is the Executive Editor of Above the Law and the Legal Editor for More Perfect. He can be reached @ElieNYC on Twitter, or at [email protected]. He will resist.