Brett Kavanaugh Is Testifying

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Hoo boy. Brett Kavanaugh is going all-in on the “coordinated conspiracy by Democrats” defense. That’s good red meat for the base, but will it work on anyone else?

A few minutes later, Kavanaugh breaks down while telling a story about his daughter praying for Dr. Ford. “Such wisdom from a ten-year-old,” he stammered. I’m pretty bad at reading emotions, so it’s hard for me to tell how credible his emotional display was. It seemed genuine to me, but then again, he obviously made a decision from the start to come out with guns blazing, a man who’s legitimately outraged at the false allegations being leveled at him.

3:35 — Kavanaugh is in a nearly continual state of emotional breakdown now. He’s sniffing and his voice is breaking, even when he’s talking about something as banal as football camp or why he kept calendars. This is a little puzzling, isn’t it? Or not?

3:40 — Hmmm. We have a new explanation of the “Renate Alumnus” comment in his yearbook:

Yeah, this is not credible. It’s just not how teenage boys act.

3:55 — Another few shots at Democrats. “Thanks to what you on this side of the aisle have unleashed” I may never be able to coach again. Jesus. Can Kavanaugh even be any kind of judge after these repeated and brutal attacks on Democrats?

3:58 — Ah. Rachel Mitchell will be handling the Republican questioning of Brett Kavanaugh too. I guess I didn’t realize that.

4:05 — Kavanaugh responds angrily to Dianne Feinstein’s question about an FBI investigation. But this time the anger seems forced and fake. There’s also something else going on with Kavanaugh. It’s not just that he’s still just short of tears as he testifies, it’s the odd facial tics, the tongue in his cheek, the oddly pursed lips, and so forth. There’s something weird going on here.

4:10 — Is Kavanaugh’s anger and emotional breakdown for real? Or is this a carefully rehearsed persona because his handlers told him this is what a falsely accused man should sound like? I really, genuinely don’t know.

4:13 — Time for a break.

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BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things they don’t like—which is most things that are true.

No one gets to tell Mother Jones what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

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