It’s hard to believe it’s only been two months since the contentious Senate confirmation hearings for now-Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. But for Christine Blasey Ford, the woman who testified about her alleged sexual assault by Kavanaugh as a teenager, those two months have likely felt like a lifetime.
In early October, Blasey Ford said she and her family had already been forced to move four times due to ongoing threats. And last week (per The Cut), she updated supporters via a message on a GoFundMe page set up to help defray costs incurred because of her testimony and the ensuing security concerns.
“Words are not adequate to thank all of you who supported me since I came forward to tell the Senate that I had been sexually assaulted by Brett Kavanaugh,” Blasey Ford wrote. “Your tremendous outpouring of support and kind letters have made it possible for us to cope with the immeasurable stress, particularly the disruption to our safety and privacy. Because of your support, I feel hopeful that our lives will return to normal.” She goes on to call the donations a “godsend” that have allowed her family to beef up security in light of “to protect ourselves against frightening threats.” Those security measures include physical protection, added features to their home, and housing while they were displaced.
The GoFundMe has raised almost $650,000—but now Blasey Ford is closing it to donations. “With immense gratitude, I am closing this account to further contributions,” she says. “All funds unused after completion of security expenditures will be donated to organizations that support trauma survivors. I am currently researching organizations where the funds can best be used. We will use this space to let you know when that process is complete.”
Even with all that has come with it, Blasey Ford is steadfast in her belief that she needed to do her civic duty in coming forward about Kavanaugh. (He has always vehemently denied the allegations.)
“Although coming forward was terrifying, and caused disruption to our lives, I am grateful to have had the opportunity to fulfill my civic duty,” she concludes. “Having done so, I am in awe of the many women and men who have written me to share similar life experiences, and now have bravely shared their experience with friends and family, many for the first time. I send you my heartfelt love and support.”
Brett Kavanaugh’s controversial ascent to the Supreme Court has been difficult for many women, particularly those who have endured sexual assault. But any survivors who are struggling in the wake of the confirmation now have one new and unexpected resource to turn to: Brettkavanaugh.com.
According to reports, the website launched the same day Kavanaugh was sworn in through the efforts of Fix The Court, a non-partisan organization that advocates for increased transparency and honesty within the Supreme Court. The site consists of a simple landing page that includes multiple links to different groups specializing in helping sexual assault victims, and they include the National Sexual Violence Resource Center, End Rape On Campus, and the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network.
“The start of Brett Kavanaugh’s tenure on the Supreme Court may look like a victory for one interest group or another,” the website reads. “But, more importantly, it is putting a national focus on the issue of sexual assault – and how we as a country can and should do more to prevent it and to support those who have experienced it. This past month, thousands of survivors came forward to tell their stories. We applaud your bravery. We believe you.”
In a statement on its website, Fix The Court executive director Gabe Roth explained that three years ago, he bought a handful of URLs that related to possible Supreme Court nominees. One of these was BrettKavanaugh.com. He also secured BrettKavanaugh.org and BrettKavanaugh.org, which now redirect back to the Brett Kavanaugh landing page.
“I believe Dr. Ford. I believe Prof. Hill. I also believe that asking for forgiveness is a sign of maturity and strength, not weakness,” Roth wrote.
Roth also referred to a divisive public ceremony that the White House held for Kavanaugh on Monday, during which President Donald Trump apologized on behalf of the nation for “pain and suffering” that the new justice been forced to endure” after several women, including Christine Blasey Ford, accused him of sexual misconduct.
“Watching last night’s White House event and listening to the President again cast doubt on veracity of Dr. Ford’s claims, while not hearing a word of contrition from the newest justice, was difficult for many Americans who have experienced sexual misconduct firsthand,” Roth said in his statement. “Fix the Court stands with you. We believe you, and we support you. And if you seek additional resources, you can go to BrettKavanaugh.com.”
If you’re a woman, you’re already familiar with the double standards applied to us when it comes to expressing emotions. If you’re a woman of color, you know it’s even more egregious.
Alexis Ohanian, Reddit co-founder and husband to Serena Williams, called out that double standard in a Twitter thread, while also proving yet again that he wins at being the most supportive husband ever. Ohanian first responded to a tweet from Deborah Barros that said, “Funny how a black female tennis player is held to a higher standard to keep her emotions in check than a Supreme Court nominee.”
His comment was short and to the point, “It’s not funny, it’s bullshit.” (Williams, of course, was very publicly criticized by some for showing frustration over a number of questionable calls during her U.S. Open finals match against Naomi Osaka last month.)
But he wasn’t quite finished making his point and proceeded to get specific about the behaviors exhibited by Brett Kavanaugh in his testimony surrounding the sexual assault allegations made against him by Christine Blasey Ford. “Played the ‘father card’,” Ohanian continued. “Cried & screamed + Insulted everyone’s intelligence with lies about the definitions of phrases anyone with Google could debunk + Argued hysterically with sitting Senators, even going so far as to threaten them.”
“If you’re going to be a Supreme Court Justice — a job that requires maintaining sober judgement, it shouldn’t matter what questions you have to answer in your job interview, you keep it together.”
Kavanaugh did indeed cry, yell, and take a fairly menacing approach to being questioned on certain topics. So much so that he (or perhaps the GOP) felt something of a public mea culpa was necessary before the final vote in a Wall Street Journal op-ed.
“I was very emotional last Thursday, more so than I have ever been. I might have been too emotional at times,” he wrote. “I know that my tone was sharp, and I said a few things I should not have said. 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.”
These are the kind of arguments that society-at-large considers valid for men—not so much for women. Good on Ohanian for calling it out!
Judge Brett Kavanaugh was confirmed on Saturday as the 114th U.S. Supreme Court Justice. The final vote was the conclusion of a weeks-long process of primary confirmation votes, hearings, and powerful testimony—particularly the testimony delivered by Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, who accused Kavanaugh of sexual assault and took her allegations to the Senate floor, where she unflinchingly and bravely detailed her account to the judiciary committee.
During the confirmation vote Saturday afternoon, protestors could be heard screaming and shouting from the public gallery, with cries of “Shame! Shame! Shame!” and “I do not consent!” Thousands of other protestors surrounded the Supreme Court Building and U.S. Capitol.
Twitter users, of course, took to the platform to express their feelings after Kavanaugh’s final confirmation vote on Saturday.
And finally, there was one strong message that shone through: “November is coming.” Kavanaugh’s confirmation—and nomination—seems to have raised awareness that voting in the upcoming midterm elections is more important than ever.
Americans are poised for the dawn of a new era in federal justice as one of the most divisive Supreme Court nominations in modern history comes to a close. As protestors screamed and shouted from the public gallery, the Senate voted to confirm Brett Kavanaugh three months after his selection by President Donald Trump—weeks marked by public protests that came to a head after three women accused the judge of past sexual assaults.
Republicans, looking to boost their party ahead of November’s midterm election, steamed ahead with the nomination. Finally, on Saturday, the Senate voted 50 to 48 to make Kavanaugh the 114th justice of the high court. Notably, Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski, from Alaska, voted present instead of “no” as a favor to Sen. Steve Daines, a Republican from Montana, who was was attending his daughter’s wedding and would have voted yes.
“When a senator is necessarily absent (for example, attending their daughter’s wedding), they can ‘pair’ with another senator who is voting the opposite way,” a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told reporters Friday night.
“I have extended this as a courtesy to my friend. It will not change the outcome of the vote,” Murkowski said Friday night on the Senate floor. “But I do hope that it reminds us that we can take very small, very small steps to be gracious with one another and maybe those small, gracious steps can lead to more.”
One of the judge’s accusers, California college professor Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, galvanized supporters—and critics—by telling the Senate Judiciary Committee under oath in a September testimony that a drunk Kavanaugh tried to force himself on her at a high school party in the ’80s. The judge denied the accusations with force that sometimes veered into belligerence. Kavanaugh, of course, was no longer a lock: Senate Judiciary Democrats interrogated him about Ford’s accusations. Republicans railed against maligning a man never convicted of a crime. #MeToo activists saw a moment to speak out—and to not repeat the scrutiny that Anita Hill endured, who in 1991 accused SCOTUS nominee Clarence Thomas of sexual harassment.
Following Ford’s testimony, the battle over Kavanaugh reached another peak as the Senate voted 51-49 on Friday to push past a procedural hurdle and advance his appointment. Republican senators mostly fell along from party lines, with on-the-fence senators including Jeff Flake, Susan Collins, and Joe Manchin, voting to move Kavanaugh forward to a full vote. An exception came with Murkowski, a crucial swing vote who voted not to advance the embattled nominee ahead.
The Senate Judiciary Committee had initially planned to weigh in on Kavanaugh’s confirmation on Sept. 28, less than 24 hours after the country had been rocked by emotional testimony from both Kavanaugh and Ford. However, things took a dramatic turn when Arizona Senator Jeff Flake signaled he would only vote to confirm Kavanaugh if an FBI investigation was conducted into the allegations.
The investigation was completed this week. It looked into Ford’s claims that Kavanaugh had held her down and covered her mouth with his hand when they were in high school in 1982. The FBI also examined the accusations of Deborah Ramirez, a Yale classmate of Kavanaugh’s who accused him of exposing himself to her at a party. The summary of the FBI’s findings said that the allegations could not be corroborated.
“The Supplemental Background Investigation confirms what the Senate Judiciary Committee concluded after its investigation: there is no corroboration of the allegations made by Dr. Ford or Ms. Ramirez,” the summary reads.
Chuck Grassley, the Republican chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, referenced the summary on Friday to assert Kavanaugh’s innocence, insisting that an unfair smear campaign had been leveled against Trump’s nominee.
However, Democratic senators suggested the FBI investigation had been limited and curtailed by the White House. Multiple people, including former classmates of Kavanaugh’s, had said that they wanted to provide statements to the FBI but could not reach the organization. The executive summary had detailed the 10 people that the FBI interviewed, including Kavanaugh’s childhood friends Mark Judge and PJ Smyth, and Dr. Ford’s friend Leland Keyser—all people Dr. Ford said had been at the party during which the assault occurred. According to early reports, the FBI chose not to interview Dr. Ford or Kavanaugh again.
In addition to the allegations against him, Kavanaugh has also rattled pro-choice supporters with some of his past positions a judge. What comes across his desk as a Supreme Court justice remains to be seen, but what is coming up are the midterm elections. Read up on your voting rights here.
When it comes to the controversial nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, men run the show.
Technically, anyway.
President Donald Trump, of course, picked Kavanaugh for the high court. The Senate Judiciary Committee, which has held confirmation hearings on the judge—including testimony from Christine Blasey Ford, who has accused him of sexually assaulting her in the 1980s—is controlled by Republican Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley. And the Senate majority leader is Kentucky Republican Mitch McConnell, who’s firmly on Kavanaugh’s side and is driving the chamber toward confirmation as fast as he can.
But a group of women are playing pivotal roles at this divisive moment in U.S. history. Some serve on the Judiciary Committee. Some have staked out positions as nationally recognized champions of women’s rights. Some face a choice between siding with their party or with those protesting it.
Here, in alphabetical order, is a quick guide to some of the Senate women who’ve been in the spotlight (or on the hot seat) in the Kavanaugh controversy, including those whose political futures are definitely worth watching in the run-up to the 2020 race for president.
SUSAN COLLINS
PHOTO: Bloomberg
The GOP controls the Senate by a tiny margin, so any defections put the party in danger of seeing Kavanaugh’s confirmation blow up. Collins, who represents Maine, has been one of the most closely tracked members of the Senate throughout the Kavanaugh debate: She’s a Republican, but she’s also pro-choice.
Before Ford’s claims that Kavanaugh attacked her when they were high school students—which he has categorically denied—Collins was already regularly swarmed by reporters trying to take her temperature on whether she’d vote to confirm the judge to replace the retiring Justice Anthony Kennedy. Now she’s surrounded not only by the press, but under pressure from both protesters and colleagues who want her to reject Kavanaugh.
Collins supported Trump’s first SCOTUS nominee last year, but that was a very different story: When Neil Gorsuch succeeded the late Justice Antonin Scalia, it was a matter of one conservative replacing another. The balance of the court was unchanged. Kennedy was also nominated by a Republican president, Ronald Reagan, but he ended up a swing justice who sided with liberals in critical cases that upheld abortion protections. Replacing Kennedy with Kavanaugh would tilt the high court firmly to the right.
Collins met privately with Kavanaugh before the Ford allegations. She said that she came away with the understanding that the judge considers Roe v. Wade a matter of settled law.
But since Kavanaugh went on the defensive over the assault claims, Collins has come under even more pressure to take a side. She publicly called the allegations “serious” and supported allowing lawyers for Ford and Kavanaugh to question each other during the Judiciary hearings (which didn’t end up happening).
As of Thursday, she had told reporters she considered the FBI probe “very thorough,” but said she hadn’t finished reviewing all the materials. She also hadn’t said how she planned to vote.
DIANNE FEINSTEIN
PHOTO: Bloomberg
The California senator is in a challenging position: She’s the highest-ranking woman on the Judiciary Committee, but she’s a Democrat. (As the majority party, Republicans ultimately control the proceedings.)
Feinstein has faced considerable criticism during the Kavanaugh confirmation process, including the timeline of her actions after receiving a letter from Ford that detailed her allegations of assault. The senator has said she was simply trying to respect Ford’s request for privacy; Republicans have instead accused Feinstein of stalling so she could drop a bombshell on the SCOTUS nominee late in the game and hurt his chances of getting the job.
Some anti-Kavanaugh activists reportedly think Feinstein’s methodical, low-key style just isn’t cutting it as the Republicans are on the verge of getting the nomination to a vote, although the longtime lawmaker has also been praised for being fair.
KIRSTEN GILLIBRAND
PHOTO: Drew Angerer
The New York senator has a record of speaking out against sexual assault, particularly in the military—and she opposed Kavanaugh well before the current scandal engulfed his nomination.
Gillibrand, a Democrat who’s often mentioned as a potential 2020 presidential contender although she hasn’t confirmed those rumors, has flatly suggested Kavanaugh is a hyper-conservative would be a threat to abortion rights and women’s health care. She’s also questioned his past positions on the exercise of presidential power.
In July, well before the news broke of Ford’s allegations against Kavanaugh, Gillibrand told Glamour she considered the judge “more dangerous than any previous justice nominee because of his education and his experience and because of the track record he’s laid out about what he intends to do,” adding, “I think he is going to be very destructive to basic civil rights and civil liberties for millions of Americans.”
Thursday night, Gillibrand urged people to change the game by showing up on Election Day.
“If the Senate was 51% women, would SCOTUS nominees look like Brett Kavanaugh, or like Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor?” she asked. “Let’s elect record numbers of women so our high offices are held by leaders who’ll do the most good for the most people.”
KAMALA HARRIS
PHOTO: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
The former California attorney general has put her prosecutorial skills to work as a member of the Judiciary Committee, peppering Kavanaugh with pointed questions during the confirmation hearings.
Her intensity wasn’t much of a surprise: Harris, a Democrat, got plenty of attention for grilling now-U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions during his Judiciary interviews as well.
Harris is only the second black woman elected to the Senate in American history (the first was Sen. Carol Moseley Braun of Illinois) and has made a name for herself in public life as a fighter against racial inequity, both inside and outside the criminal justice system—and a lawmaker with a cool head.
Some forecasters have said the combination of passion and compassion Harris has evinced in the political arena, and her calls to elevate the American debate beyond the “mean” tone of the Trump era, could be a blueprint for a potential run for the White House. She’s not tipping her hand on a future campaign just yet.
The Hawaii senator is not a prospective candidate for president—she can’t seek the Oval Office, having been born outside the U.S.—but her standout role as a Kavanaugh interrogator has some people wishing she could.
Hirono, a Democrat who serves on Judiciary, notably asked Kavanaugh well before the Ford allegations surfaced whether he had ever engaged in sexual harassment or assault. (He said he had not.) As the New Yorkernoted, Hirono said she posed the question because she “did not want the #MeToo movement to be swept under the rug,” not because she had any heads-up about the coming scandal.
The cancer survivor, who is also the only immigrant currently serving in the Senate, also made a point of asking Kavanaugh about his attitudes toward indigenous peoples—and releasing a 2002 email (which had been marked “confidential”) that included his views on a legal question regarding Native Hawaiians.
Hirono said in the hearings that his views on the status of native peoples should be considered offensive—and not just by Hawaiians. Read on for why that matters in more ways than one…
AMY KLOBUCHAR
PHOTO: Chip Somodevilla
While a Democrat, Klobuchar, the senior senator from the swing state of Minnesota has been described as somewhat more moderate than some of her colleagues. That might not be in vogue in 2018, when hard-charging liberals (and even some self-identified Democratic socialists) are exciting some midterm voters. The landscape could look different in 2020, when a Trump challenger might try to appeal to Americans on both the left and right of the political spectrum.
Klobuchar is the fourth Democratic woman who serves on Judiciary (all the Republicans are men). She had a memorable question for her male colleagues who sat in opposition to letting the FBI investigate the allegations against Kavanaugh: “What are you hiding?”
At least as memorable: The moment Klobuchar asked Kavanaugh if he’d ever blacked out from drinking, only to have him throw the question back at her. He later apologized to Klobuchar, who said in a CNN interview that she’d been “stunned” by his conduct during the Judiciary hearing.
Klobuchar was also among the Democrats who had off-mic conversations with Arizona Republican Sen. Jeff Flake, who ultimately pushed his GOP colleagues to give the FBI more time to look into Kavanaugh’s past before a Senate vote.
LISA MURKOWSKI
PHOTO: Drew Angerer
Like Collins, Murkowski is a pro-choice Republican woman, and whether she’ll ultimately come down for or against Kavanaugh has been keeping the pundits speculating.
The Alaska senator’s office told the Anchorage Daily News on Thursday that she, like Collins, is reviewing the FBI files—although Murkowski had not gone so far as her Maine counterpart in calling the investigation “thorough.” She has, however, acknowledged that the pressure is on from both sides, and that her office has been flooded with emails and calls about the confirmation.
Murkowski and Collins both also criticized Trump after he ridiculed Ford’s testimony and portrayed Kavanaugh as a victim of character assassination during a Tuesday rally in Mississippi.
For Murkowski, however, Hirono’s question to the judge about indigenous peoples may carry extra significance: As the Daily News has reported, Alaska Native organizations that helped her win a big 2010 Senate race consider Kavanaugh a potential danger to tribal authority, are out in force against him, and are making sure Murkowski knows it.
ELIZABETH WARREN
PHOTO: Zach Gibson
The Massachusetts senator—and possible 2020 contender—isn’t a member of the Judiciary Committee, but she’s been outspoken on opposing the Kavanaugh nomination.
“The fact that Republicans want to go forward treating [Ford] and other women who have come forward as if their claims don’t matter is an insult to every single woman in this country,” she told Glamour in Washington on the day of Ford’s testimony to Judiciary last week. “It is fundamentally wrong.”
Warren was also among the luminaries who protested Kavanaugh on Thursday, telling a rally crowd, “I am angry on behalf of women who have been told to sit down and shut up one time too many.”
There are no bridges left to burn between Trump and Warren: The president has mockingly called her “Pocahontas” in questioning her self-described Native American heritage; Warren has been a steady critic of the administration’s policies, including on federal family planning funding.
While she hasn’t officially committed to challenging Trump, Warren was recently quoted saying she’d take a “hard look” at it after the Nov. 6 midterms.
Celeste Katz is senior politics reporter for Glamour. Send news tips, questions, and comments to celeste_katz@condenast.com.
