Brett Kavanaugh's 'Defense' Against Sexual Assault Allegations Is Suspicious AF

Brett Kavanaugh released a letter written by 65 women who defend him — but why does he have something like that in the first place?

Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh came under fire this week after allegations came forth that he tried to force himself on a girl when he was in high school. While the fact that a potential Supreme Court justice is being accused of sexual misconduct is horrifying, what truly stands out about the allegations is Kavanaugh’s “defense.”

The New Yorker reports that Kavanaugh allegedly held down a girl at a high school party in the 1980s and attempted to force himself on her, covering her mouth to quiet her protests. It’s sickening. Kavanaugh has, unsurprisingly, denied the incident occurred, as did a fellow classmate who was reportedly involved in said incident.

All of that is a big enough red flag that hey, maybe this guy isn’t a good pick to serve a lifelong term on the highest court of law in the United States. But in case that’s not a big enough warning sign, here’s another — immediately after the allegations were made public, Kavanaugh presented a letter written by 65 women who attended the all-girls high schools near Georgetown Prep, Kavanaugh’s high school. They defend his character and claim they’ve all known him for the past three decades:

“We are women who have known Brett Kavanaugh for more than 35 years and knew him while he attended high school between 1979 and 1983. For the entire time we have known Brett Kavanaugh, he has behaved honorably and treated women with respect. We strongly believe it is important to convey this information to the Committee at this time.”

First, let’s get it straight that just because Kavanaugh apparently respected each of these women doesn’t mean he automatically couldn’t have assaulted one woman. Secondly, uh, why does he have this list of women on-hand, at the ready? That’s a lot of people for he and his team to have tracked down, contacted, and vetted to sign this letter. Since most people don’t keep in regular, daily contact with 65 people they knew over 30 years ago, so it’s probably safe to assume Kavanaugh assumed the sexual assault allegations were going to come out eventually and he scrambled to make himself look innocent.

Oddly, the internet wasn’t fooled. Because, come on.

Other responses were a little more tongue-in-cheek:

I was sexually assaulted at a party in college. The guy who stuck his hands down my pants and groped me without my consent — a guy I’d never had any prior communication with at any time before — was incredibly well-known on campus and particularly popular with the Greek life crowd. Immediately after it happened, I was shamed by plenty of girls I knew (some of whom I was friends with) for “hooking up” with this guy because he had a girlfriend. I felt sick with humiliation and frustration for days afterward, and it still makes my stomach churn when I think about it now. I’m sure if need be, he could easily get dozens of his hundreds of female Facebook friends to talk about what a great guy he is and how he never assaulted them.

But he assaulted me. And I believe the woman who says Brett Kavanaugh assaulted her. Innocent men do not have to premeditate their own defense.