“History will be kind to me because I intend to write it” is often ascribed to Winston Churchill.  Justice Brett Kavanaugh could do little better in presenting his case for history than this after-action report by Hemingway, a reporter for the Federalist and Severino, a former Thomas clerk and a participant in many of the judicial wars through her work at the Judicial Crisis Network.  Justice on Trial is chock-a-block with small, telling vignettes that only a participant or someone with impeccable sources could obtain.  For instance, Justice Kavanaugh’s suits being temporarily stored in a neighborhood kid’s treehouse and retrieved for him by the kid to avoid a hostile, untiring, and intrusive press siege of his house.  Similarly, the image of Senator Ted Cruz booming out “Treason!” in imitation of what the Democrats were likely to confront Justice Kavanaugh with will stick with the reader.

On Friday during the National Policy Conference, the RNLA gave the 2019 Betty Murphy Award to Mike Davis, former Chief Counsel for Nominations to the Senate Judiciary Committee.  Mr. Davis tweeted that former Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley is the true "unsung hero" of confirming President Trump's judicial nominees:

Honored. But the real unsung hero of the fight to confirm Justice Gorsuch, Justice Kavanaugh, & the rest of President @realDonaldTrump’s judicial nominees is @ChuckGrassley, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee (and my boss) last Congress. Grassley Works. Grassley Delivers. https://t.co/maqwHgaU0k

— Mike Davis (@mrddmia) April 5, 2019

The RNLA will honor Mike Davis, former Chief Nominations Counsel to then-Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, with the 2019 Betty Murphy Award. Prior to serving Sen. Grassley, Davis worked in private practice in Denver where he chaired RNLA’s Colorado Chapter, clerked for Justice Neil Gorsuch when he was on the Tenth Circuit, helped get Justice Gorsuch confirmed, and again clerked for Justice Gorsuch at the Supreme Court.

During the 115th Congress, President Donald Trump, former White House Counsel Don McGahn, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, and Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley have had great accomplishments regarding the appointment of conservative judges. There have been 85 new federal judges confirmed, including Justice Gorsuch, Justice Kavanaugh, 30 circuit court judges, and 53 district court judges. Despite these accomplishments, Senate Democrats continue their obstruction by holding up the confirmation of six more circuit court judges and 48 district court nominees.

In case you missed it last week, Senator Chuck Grassley asked for information regarding a raid on the home of a whistleblower on the Clinton Foundation:

Today, Jeff Sessions resigned as Attorney General of the United States, and President Trump announced that Sessions' Chief of Staff, Matthew Whitaker, will be the Acting Attorney General.  Under Attorney General Sessions, the Department of Justice has returned to respecting the rule of law and enforcing and supporting the law as written, instead of pursuing a partisan agenda as it did under President Obama.

The fallout from the Kavanaugh smear continues with some on the left doubling down on the smears regarding Justice Kavanaugh drugging and organizing rape trains of teenagers and with others backing off.  This is all a result of Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley’s 29 page letter referring Trump-hater lawyer Michael Avenatti and his “witness” Julie Swetnick to the FBI for criminal investigation for providing false statements, obstructing investigations, and conspiracy during Kavanaugh’s confirmation. 

Yesterday, NBC did a mea culpa claiming that they had been deceived by Avenatti:

Was this an intentional attempt to mislead our reporters? Evidence points that way... https://t.co/MOxE8WiGK4

— Chuck Todd (@chucktodd) October 26, 2018

If you read the Huffington Post, you would have to believe that the Republicans on the Judiciary Committee are out of control and acted in an unprecedented fashion yesterday when they held hearings.  The reality is that Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) was merely doing what he made an agreement with Ranking Member Dianne Feinstein to do.  Meanwhile, led by Ranking Member Feinstein, Senate Democrats have brought unprecedented indignity and degradation to the modern Senate. 

NEW: In a detailed, 29-page letter Chairman @ChuckGrassley has referred Michael Avenatti and Julie Swetnick to the Attorney General and FBI Director for criminal investigation for providing false statements, obstructing investigations, and conspiracy.https://t.co/ZjQWtnqQOM pic.twitter.com/DNYNGxel4K

— Senator Hatch Office (@senorrinhatch) October 25, 2018

Just when you thought it could not get anymore ridiculous or the smears any worse, Senator Dick Durbin takes off on a new tact.  Knowing FBI reports are confidential, he tweeted:

This tweet is not accurate. Committee Republicans must correct it. See our letter here: https://t.co/trJ9ymDjee https://t.co/cCVpAwCzEI

— Senator Dick Durbin (@SenatorDurbin) October 3, 2018

Now think about this. Through multiple confirmation hearings (including for the DC Circuit), Durbin never brought this up.  Neither did any other Senator.  Yet now there is an issue in those past 6 FBI reports?  This is a classic, like the “there is a problem with Mitt Romney’s taxes” tactic used by Harry Reid. Reid famously said that when there was nothing there.  Yet the media reported Reid's charge breathlessly. 

Fortunately the Senate Judiciary Committee under Senator Chuck Grassley fought back:  

Nothing in the tweet is inaccurate or misleading. The committee stands by its statement, which is completely truthful. More baseless innuendo and more false smears from Senate Democrats. https://t.co/x7VUEKnFRV

— Senate Judiciary (@senjudiciary) October 3, 2018

While Saturday Night Live and the biased media are offering one sort of portrayal of what is going on regarding the Kavanaugh nomination, the facts and reality are different.  Here are some highlights with links if you want to go more in depth.

Rachel Mitchell, the sex crimes prosecutor hired by the Senate Judiciary Committee notes:

"In the legal context, here is my bottom line: A 'he said, she said' case is incredibly difficult to prove. But this case is even weaker than that," she wrote. "Dr. Ford identified other witnesses to the event, and those witnesses either refuted her allegations or failed to corroborate them. For the reasons discussed below, I do not think that a reasonable prosecutor would bring this case based on the evidence before the Committee. Nor do I believe that this evidence is sufficient to satisfy the preponderance-of-the-evidence standard."