sexual harassment

The bogus GOP talking point about ‘timing,’ and dueling character witnesses

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The Republican talking point today is “Why did Democrats wait until the eleventh hour” to bring to light this allegation of sexual assault by Judge Kavanaugh when he was in high school just days before his confirmation vote?

Seriously? Republicans are complaining about regular order and procedure after having blockaded President Obama’s nomination of Merick Garland for a year, and then rushing the nomination process for Brett Kavanaugh? That is chutzpah.

The confirmation vote has been rushed by the Septuagenarian Ninja Turtle, Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell, before the National Archives has even completed its review of documents related to Kavanaugh. Only about 10% of documents have been made available through an alternative source, a very non-neutral arbiter, Bill Burck, a private attorney employed by former president George W. Bush and a longtime Republican — and reportedly a longtime friend of Kavanaugh’s — overseeing the review of the documents. The fight over the release of Kavanaugh documents. A group of Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee have been forced to file a lawsuit against the National Archives in an attempt to gain access to records related to Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. Senate Dems sue Archives to try to force release of Kavanaugh documents.

You want to talk about regular order and procedure Turtle Man? Mitch McConnell is the man who broke America. UPDATE: Charles Pierce at Esquire brings it up to date. History Will Remember Mitch McConnell as One of the Very Worst.

Then there is the fact Christine Blasey Ford did not want to come forward and be subjected to a political assault. She told this to both Senator Dianne Feinstein and reporters at the Washington Post. It was only after her letter was leaked to the Intercept and the New Yorker last week that she made the decision over the weekend that she would be willing to testify after having been outed against her will. She is now, predictably, being politically assaulted.

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The biggest test of the #MeToo movement: a Supreme Court nominee

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The #MeToo movement is about believing a woman when she says that she has been sexually harassed, sexually assaulted, or raped by a man who is in a position of power:

After The New York Times published an explosive report in October 2017 detailing decades of sexual harassment allegations against Harvey Weinstein, dozens of women came forward with their own accusations against the Hollywood mogul. Within a week Weinstein had been fired from his company and expelled from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Now, in a post-Weinstein world, legions of women have felt empowered to speak out and share their own #MeToo stories—both on social media and in news outlets. The reports against the powerful producer sparked an avalanche of accusations against high-profile men in media, politics, Silicon Valley, and Hollywood, all with varying degrees of repercussions.

Here, a list of the high-profile men who have been accused of sexual harassment, assault, and/or misconduct since the Weinstein story broke, which we’ll keep updating as new allegations surface. Post-Wtneinstein, These Are the Powerful Men Facing Sexual Harassment Allegations.

The stakes just got a lot higher for the #MeToo movement.

“Earlier this summer, Christine Blasey Ford wrote a confidential letter to a senior Democratic lawmaker alleging that Supreme Court nominee Brett M. Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her more than three decades ago, when they were high school students in suburban Maryland.” California professor, writer of confidential Brett Kavanaugh letter, speaks out about her allegation of sexual assault:

Now, Ford has decided that if her story is going to be told, she wants to be the one to tell it.

Speaking publicly for the first time, Ford said that one summer in the early 1980s, Kavanaugh and a friend — both “stumbling drunk,” Ford alleges — corralled her into a bedroom during a gathering of teenagers at a house in Montgomery County.

While his friend watched, she said, Kavanaugh pinned her to a bed on her back and groped her over her clothes, grinding his body against hers and clumsily attempting to pull off her one-piece bathing suit and the clothing she wore over it. When she tried to scream, she said, he put his hand over her mouth.

“I thought he might inadvertently kill me,” said Ford, now a 51-year-old research psychologist in northern California. “He was trying to attack me and remove my clothing.”

Ford said she was able to escape when Kavanaugh’s friend and classmate at Georgetown Preparatory School, Mark Judge, jumped on top of them, sending all three tumbling. She said she ran from the room, briefly locked herself in a bathroom and then fled the house.

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The incestual relationships of the FAUX News presidency

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FAUX News aka Trump TV was engulfed by sexual harassment scandals over the past couple of years. The pervasiveness of the complaints targeted not only the network’s powerful founder, Roger Ailes, but also primetime host Bill O’Reilly and former Fox News Latino executive Francisco Cortes. Fox News still hounded by sexual harassment allegations:

[It] suggests a culture of misogyny and sexual objectification that extended beyond Ailes’ office.

Current and former employees have described the Fox News environment as archaic, stuck in a 1950s view of male-female relations.

An internal investigation last year led the company to pledge zero-tolerance for “behavior that disrespects women.”

Michael Cohen is Donald Trump’s “fixer” to clean up his sexcapades with nondisclosure agreements (NDAs). Cohen did the same for Elliot Brady, the former RNC deputy finance chair. Cohen’s only other client, revealed in court on Monday, is Donald Trump’s Minister of Propaganda at FAUX News aka Trump TV,  Sean Hannity.

Given Cohen’s legal practice of NDAs to clean up sexual indiscretions, shall we say, it begs the obvious question whether he was hired to do the same for Sean Hannity.

It turns out that Michael Cohen is not the only lawyer that Donald Trump shares with Sean Hannity.

Sean Hannity also employed Jay Sekulow, currently Trump’s personal attorney on the Russia investigation, and Victoria Toensing, a frequent guest on Hannity’s program. She and her husband Joseph E. diGenova, the members of diGenova and Toensing LLP, were recently hired by Donald Trump in the Russia investigation, until they suddenly were not (asserting a unidentifed conflict of interest).

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Trump tries to silence his female accusers

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The New York Times reported that “President Trump and a company affiliated with him filed court papers on Monday seeking to force the pornographic film actress Stormy Daniels to raise her disputes through private arbitration, not lawsuits.” Stormy Daniels Case Should Be Resolved Privately, Trump’s Lawyers Say.

Dumb move. This is the triggering event that Daniels’ attorney Michael Avenatti was waiting for to begin discovery. As Mark Sumner at Daily Kos reminds us, Trump files for arbitration with Stormy Daniels:

Last week, a judge turned down a request by Stormy Daniel’s lawyer to avoid arbitration, saying in effect that her attorney had jumped the gun.

Judge S. James Otero of the US District Court for the Central District of California denied the motion for an expedited trial and discovery process, saying Daniels’ attorney, Michael Avenatti, was “premature” in making the motion because Trump and Essential Consultants LLC, the company established by Cohen to pay Daniels the $130,000 to keep quiet about an alleged affair between her and Trump, have not yet filed a petition to compel arbitration, which they have stated they’re going to do.

But now it’s time for Avenatti to pick up his paper and carry it back to court, because Donald Trump is seeking to compel arbitration with Stormy Daniels.

Avenatti is entitled to challenge in court whether there is a valid and enforceable agreement subject to arbitration under the Federal Arbitration Act as a preliminary question.

It’s game on for discovery! Serve that notice of deposition on Donald Trump, Mr. Avenatti. There is no way he is not going to lie under oath. It’s Paula Jones versus Bill Clinton all over again, and should result in a similar impeachment charge for perjury under oath.

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Playboy president seeks to profit from porn star – and more!

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When last we checked in on the reality TV show “the playboy president and the porn star,” Stormy clouds over the Trump White House: 60 Minutes and a court date, adult film star Stormy Daniels, whose legal name is Stephanie Clifford, had filed a lawsuit (and attached exhibits) (.pdf) to void a nondisclosure agreement (NDA) with Donald Trump, identified by the alias David Dennison in the NDA, drafted and entered into by Michael Cohen, the “top attorney” and “fixer” for the Trump organization.

Last Friday, Daniels’ attorney Michael Avenatti, in an interview with MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” repeatedly said that his client had been threatened, but wouldn’t disclose by who. He also declined to give details on the nature of the threats. Stormy Daniels’ lawyer says she was threatened with physical harm:

“Morning Joe” co-host Mika Brzezinski then asked whether Clifford was “threatened in any way.”

Avenatti responded, “Yes.”

“Was she threatened with physical harm,” Brzezinski then asked.

“Yes,” Avenatti said.

“Was her life threatened?” Brzezinski inquired.

“I’m not going to answer that. People will have to tune in,” he said, referring to an interview Clifford did with CBS’s “60 Minutes” that is scheduled to air March 25.

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