September 24, 2018

After Second Woman Comes Forward, Trump Says He’s With Kavanaugh “All the Way”

The White House claims accusers are participating in a Democratic plot to kill the nomination.

Evan Vucci/AP

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President Donald Trump on Monday was unwavering in his support for Brett Kavanaugh amid a second allegation of sexual misconduct against the Supreme Court nominee, lashing out at the accusations as the “single most unfair” controversies intended to derail a candidate “for anything.”

“I am with him all the way,” Trump said as he arrived in New York for the UN General Assembly. “There’s a chance that this could be one of the single most unfair, most unjust things to happen to a candidate for anything.”

Echoing conservatives eager to dismiss the allegations currently roiling Kavanaugh’s nomination, the president also claimed that the accusations are “totally political.”

The remarks come the morning after the New Yorker published an account from Deborah Ramirez, a former classmate of Kavanaugh’s at Yale, who alleged Kavanaugh “thrust his penis” in her face during a drunken party their freshman year. Kavanaugh has denied the new allegation as a “smear.” Meanwhile, Christine Blasey Ford, who accused Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her during a party in the 1980s, is scheduled to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday.

In the wake of the second allegation, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) on Sunday called on the committee to immediately postpone further proceedings for Kavanaugh’s nomination process. “We need a fair, independent process that will gather all the facts, interview all the relevant witnesses, and ensure the Committee receives a full and impartial report,” Feinstein wrote in a letter to committee chairman Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa).

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WHO DOESN’T LOVE A POSITIVE STORY—OR TWO?

“Great journalism really does make a difference in this world: it can even save kids.”

That’s what a civil rights lawyer wrote to Julia Lurie, the day after her major investigation into a psychiatric hospital chain that uses foster children as “cash cows” published, letting her know he was using her findings that same day in a hearing to keep a child out of one of the facilities we investigated.

That’s awesome. As is the fact that Julia, who spent a full year reporting this challenging story, promptly heard from a Senate committee that will use her work in their own investigation of Universal Health Services. There’s no doubt her revelations will continue to have a big impact in the months and years to come.

Like another story about Mother Jones’ real-world impact.

This one, a multiyear investigation, published in 2021, exposed conditions in sugar work camps in the Dominican Republic owned by Central Romana—the conglomerate behind brands like C&H and Domino, whose product ends up in our Hershey bars and other sweets. A year ago, the Biden administration banned sugar imports from Central Romana. And just recently, we learned of a previously undisclosed investigation from the Department of Homeland Security, looking into working conditions at Central Romana. How big of a deal is this?

“This could be the first time a corporation would be held criminally liable for forced labor in their own supply chains,” according to a retired special agent we talked to.

Wow.

And it is only because Mother Jones is funded primarily by donations from readers that we can mount ambitious, yearlong—or more—investigations like these two stories that are making waves.

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