Controversy over
Kavanaugh inspires falsehoods
Donald
Trump's Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh testifies before the Senate
Judiciary Committee on Sept. 6, 2018. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
The Supreme Court
confirmation hearings for Brett Kavanaugh took an unexpected turn when a woman
from Kavanaugh's high school years came forward to claim he assaulted her at an
alcohol-fueled party.
As I write this,
it's not clear whether California researcher Christine Blasey Ford will
testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee or not.
Her legal team has
asked for the FBI to look into the incident.
Which is where our
fact-check comes in.
Trump said, in
response to a reporter's questions, that it wasn't possible for the FBI to look
into the incident:
"Well it
would seem that the FBI really doesn’t do that,"
adding,
"It seems that
they don’t do that."
Our fact-check found
that the FBI does in fact do that, if a president asks.
Online supporters of
Kavanaugh have attacked his accuser and sought ways to discredit her.
Bloggers claimed
that Kavanaugh’s mother presided over foreclosure case against Christine Blasey
Ford’s parents, which fueled motivation for sexual assault accusation.
But our fact-check
showed that the judge did not rule against the parents at all.