Everything you need to know about Kavanaugh’s hearings, lies, and potential perjury.
In front of the Senate Judiciary Committee last week, Kavanaugh was caught in lie after lie, making false and misleading statements on a number of issues, including his views on abortion, while under oath, to avoid revealing his true beliefs and his dark past as a far-right wing political operative.
Missed the hearings? Here’s what you need to know:
- Secret emails that Republicans tried to hide from the American people revealed rock solid evidence that Brett Kavanaugh misled senators and the American people on his views about abortion and Roe v Wade. The emails revealed that, despite the show he put on in front of the Senate, Kavanaugh questions if Roe is “settled law” and thinks the Supreme Court “can always overrule its precedent.”
- In case Kavanaugh’s anti-choice views weren’t already clear enough, he used his Senate hearings to push lies and junk science often pedaled by the anti-choice movement. He referred to birth control as “abortion-inducing drugs”, a phrase that is not only widely disproven by scientific evidence but is also used by the extreme anti-choice movement to restrict access to abortion and contraception and endanger women’s health.
- Kavanaugh used many well known “code words” such as “constitutionalist” to signal his real opinions to the anti-choice movement that is rabidly supporting him. Anti-choice groups themselves even admitted that Kavanaugh’s comments on Roe don’t mean anything because he also said that precedent can be overturned. In their own words, “Pro-life advocates don’t need to be worried about Kavanaugh’s comments.”
We have always known that Kavanaugh would be a sure-fire vote to gut Roe, criminalize abortion, and punish women. Last week proved that his record is in lockstep with the most extreme parts of the anti-choice movement. But there was another bombshell that came from last week’s hearings — there is now no question that Brett Kavanaugh made false and misleading statements, under oath, to the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Here are the facts:
- The “committee confidential” emails released during the hearings showed that Kavanaugh made a series of false statements, under oath, during hearings for his current position on the Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and again at hearings for our highest Court. Then and now, his answers simply weren’t true.
- Kavanaugh made false and misleading statements on a number of issues, including his views on abortion, because he knows he would never be confirmed if the American public — and Republicans in the Senate — finds out his true beliefs, his true ideological agenda, and his dark past as a far-right wing political operative.
- NARAL, Demand Justice, and MoveOn have sent a letter to Judiciary Committee Democrats urging them to immediately refer this matter to the Department of Justice for criminal investigation and potential impeachment.
- Over the weekend, the two most senior Democrats on the Judiciary Committee, Senator Feinstein and Senator Leahy, raised serious questions about Kavanaugh’s truthfulness.
- On Saturday, Senator Collins, a key vote, said “If in fact (Kavanaugh) was not truthful, then obviously that would be a major problem for me”
- On Sunday, Congressman Jerry Nadler, who will be chair of the House Judiciary Committee if Democrats win the House, raised concerns as well. Impeachment proceedings against any judge start in the House Judiciary Committee.
As he heads towards a committee vote next week, momentum is growing to hold Kavanaugh accountable for committing multiple acts of perjury in previous hearings. Lying under oath is disqualifying for any job, but it is particularly disqualifying for someone seeking a lifetime appointment to the highest court in the land.
Republicans are hiding Kavanaugh’s true ideological agenda because they know he won’t be confirmed if it comes to light. And they’re right. Just this week, nine senators have come out against Kavanaugh’s confirmation for a lifetime appointment on the Supreme Court. This vote is a career moment of leadership, and Senators Bennet, Cardin, Hassan, Kaine, King, Shaheen, Udall, Warner, and Whitehouse are now joining the growing list of senators standing up for reproductive freedom, the fundamental rights of all Americans, and the democratic values that define us as a country.
Yet, the silence of other senators speaks volumes. It’s time for every senator to take a stand, pick a side, and come out as a no on Kavanaugh’s lifetime appointment. History will remember where every senator stood on this, and so will we.
Wondering what happens next? After reviewing Kavanaugh’s record, documents, and hearings, the Senate Judiciary Committee will vote on September 20th whether to advance him to the full Senate. After the committee vote, the full Senate will likely vote on his lifetime confirmation to the Supreme Court between September 24–26th. That means we have just weeks to make our voices heard.
Check NARAL’s whip list to see who is still undecided, and which senators need to hear from you. Call undecided senators today and everyday until the vote is over, because Roe and our fundamental freedoms are under attack like never before. As senators consider this critical vote, our message must ring in their ears: if you vote against women and our fundamental freedoms by confirming Kavanaugh, we will vote you out of office come November.
