Ridiculous idea

Rescue Kavanaugh? Trump's ridiculous idea

By Elie Honig

Of all the norms -- and arguably laws -- that President Donald Trump has trampled during his time in office, few have done more damage than his habitual politicization of the Justice Department. Trump has made clear time and again that he views the Justice Department not as a beacon of truth and independence, but rather as a dedicated hit squad, tasked with carrying out his fleeting political whims and taking vengeance on his personal and political enemies.

As recently as Monday, Trump bizarrely exhorted the House Judiciary Committee to investigate former President Barack Obama's book deal and "all the deals made by the Dems in Congress" -- citing no violation of any law by the suggested targets (who happen to be his political adversaries).

Trump's reaction to new sexual assault allegations against Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, reported by the New York Times, sets a new low. (CNN is not reporting the details of the story, because it has not been able to independently verify them yet.) By beseeching the Justice Department to "rescue" Kavanaugh, Trump promotes an ignorant and dangerous view of what the Justice Department is, and is not, about.

Meanwhile, Kavanaugh has always maintained his innocence, and a Supreme Court spokeswoman said Kavanaugh had no comment on the new allegation against the justice.

It is not clear what exactly Trump has in mind, but as a Justice Department alum, I know this: the Justice Department does not "rescue" people who have been repeatedly accused of sexual assault. Nor should the Justice Department throw its enormous power into partisan battles to settle a political score. And it is anathema to the Justice Department's core mission to suggest that it use its breathtaking might to silence the media or to intimidate victims and witnesses who might have credible evidence relevant to an allegation.

The Justice Department's highest function is the discovery of truth, without fear or favor to politics or power dynamics. In Kavanaugh's case, that core truth-finding function may have been badly compromised from the start. Senator Chris Coons reportedly sent a letter -- now obtained by CNN -- to the FBI during its 2018 investigation of alleged sexual misconduct, urging the FBI to follow up with one particular alleged witness "who had key information about alleged misconduct by the nominee while at Yale," according to CNN's reporting.

According to The New York Times, that witness was never contacted, though an aide familiar with the letter told CNN that the FBI acknowledged receipt of Coons' letter at the time, but the senator never heard more beyond that. And CNN has reported that the FBI took cues on its investigation from the White House, which -- sources told CNN -- directed the FBI to keep the investigation "as narrow as possible."

Meanwhile, in October 2018, after Christine Blasey Ford testified and the FBI investigation was complete, Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Charles Grassley crowed in bold font on his webpage that "there is no corroboration of the allegations" of sexual assault against Kavanaugh. And a former Grassley staffer defended the truncated investigation in The Washington Post this weekend, claiming his office never heard from a man now raising a new allegation, and it would not have mattered if they did. Here's a little something I picked up during my 14 years as a prosecutor: you'll never find corroboration if you intentionally try not to look for it.

Kavanaugh almost certainly is not going anywhere (see below for more on this). He likely will sit on the Supreme Court for decades to come, certainly for as long as he wishes. But Kavanaugh's deeply flawed confirmation process should stand as a reminder of the danger of turning the Justice Department, long fearless and proudly independent, into an institutional political operative.