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

RNLA Chair John Ryder wrote yesterday about how the Democrats' smear of Justice Brett Kavanaugh and their obvious efforts to play politics with his nomination have motivated conservative voters:

The dust has more or less settled from the Kavanaugh confirmation battle, but we will feel its effects for some time to come. It will take an entire term of the Supreme Court to begin to assess the impact of Justice Brett Kavanaugh on the court itself, but the political consequences are more immediate and tangible. . . .

The Democrats' smear of Justice Brett Kavanaugh is having an effect in the Senate.  The Senate is by tradition a place that runs on unanimous consent.  Nominations have rules and decorum that have to be followed.  If they are not, the minority can slow things down.  Democrats have done this on almost ALL Trump nominations. 

Democrats file cloture on every nominee, which kicks off 30 hours of debate even if no Senator is opposed. They figure if they can’t defeat nominees they can delay and consume valuable time. Democrats have forced 117 cloture votes—versus 12 in Barack Obama’s first two years and four in George W. Bush’s.

The question this month is whether Senate Democrats will accept a deal to confirm more judges and nominees, which would allow vulnerable Members to return home to campaign.

On Saturday, Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh was confirmed by the Senate 50 to 48 with Vice President Mike Pence presiding.  Justice Kavanaugh was sworn-in Saturday evening.  He carried through on his promise to have an all-women first class of clerks, including one African-American woman.  This the first time in Supreme Court history that a justice has had an all-women class of clerks.

The RNLA congratulated Justice Kavanaugh on Saturday, with statements from a few RNLA leaders:

Today, Senator Susan Collins gave an excellent speech on the Senate floor, carefully analyzing Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s record and criticizing the efforts to smear his character. When she finished speaking, Senator Lamar Alexander immediately took the floor to praise her speech.

The entire speech is well worth watching, but here are some key excerpts:

The long drawn out saga of Judge Brett Kavanaugh's nomination to the Supreme Court is finally winding down with the voting process expected to start tomorrow.  As a closing statement, tonight he wrote an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal tonight describing why he was so emotional during the hearing last week:

After all those meetings and after my initial hearing concluded, I was subjected to wrongful and sometimes vicious allegations. My time in high school and college, more than 30 years ago, has been ridiculously distorted. My wife and daughters have faced vile and violent threats.

Against that backdrop, I testified before the Judiciary Committee last Thursday to defend my family, my good name and my lifetime of public service. My hearing testimony was forceful and passionate. That is because I forcefully and passionately denied the allegation against me. At times, my testimony—both in my opening statement and in response to questions—reflected my overwhelming frustration at being wrongly accused, without corroboration, of horrible conduct completely contrary to my record and character. My statement and answers also reflected my deep distress at the unfairness of how this allegation has been handled. . . . I hope everyone can understand that I was there as a son, husband and dad. I testified with five people foremost in my mind: my mom, my dad, my wife, and most of all my daughters.

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."

Today, RNLA Executive Director Michael Thielen wrote in The Daily Caller about how Senator Dianne Feinstein has harmed the Senate, Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, and Judge Brett Kavanaugh through the politically calculating way she handled the accusations made by Dr. Ford against Judge Kavanaugh.