Multiple ethics complaints have been filed against Brett Kavanaugh, it has been revealed, and the person who will decide his fate is the man who could have served with him on the Supreme Court.
The complaints were filed in Washington D.C.’s circuit court, Buzzfeed reported, and they are under the purview of Judge Merrick Garland, the man President Barack Obama nominated to the Supreme Court but who saw his confirmation blocked by Senate Republicans, who refused to hold hearings or a vote on him.
Kavanaugh is facing battles on multiple fronts: for the allegations of sexual assault against him; questions about his drinking habits in high school and college; and for his partisan rhetoric during his at times angry, at times tearful Senate testimony in which he blamed his work on Bill Clinton’s impeachment for the Democrats’ treatment of him.
Multiple ethics complaints have been filed against Brett Kavanaugh in D.C. federal court
They are under the purview of Judge Merrick Garland, the man President Barack Obama nominated to the Supreme Court in 2016 but who saw his confirmation blocked by Senate Republicans, who refused to hold hearings or a vote on him
The complaints – both filed before Kavanaugh’s testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee last Thursday – focus on his early testimony before the sexual allegations became public and about his response to the allegations.
Ethics experts told the news website there’s no precedent for what happens to the complaints if Kavanaugh is confirmed to the Supreme Court.
If Democrats retake control of the House of Representatives, lawmakers could launch their own investigation into the allegations and possibly pursue impeachment proceedings.
Supreme Court justices only answer to Congress.
Should Kavanaugh fail to be confirmed and stay on the federal bench, he can be investigated for alleged violations of judicial ethics.
Discipline can range from Kavanaugh getting a private talking-to by the chief judge -in this case Garland – to a public reprimand to a suspension from hearing cases to a referral to the House of Representatives for possible impeachment proceedings.
Garland was nominated to the high court by Obama on March 16, 2016 to fill the vacancy created by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia.
The Senate refused to hold a hearing or vote on the nomination, which made during the last year of Obama’s presidency.
Republicans, who controlled the Senate, said the next elected President should fill the vacancy.
Garland’s nomination lasted 293 days and expired on January 3, 2017, with the end of the 114th Congress.
Trump nominated Neil Gorsuch to replace Scalia on the Supreme Court.
Both ethic complaints against Kavanaugh were filed by the Democratic Coalition, a political action group, Buzzfeed reported.
The first was filed on Sept. 10, before the allegations of sexual assault came out, and accuses Kavanaugh of lying when he told the Senate Judiciary Committee he didn’t know he received information stolen from Senate Democrats when he was working in the Bush White House in the early 2000s.
The second, filed Sept. 27, claims Kavanaugh violated the judiciary’s code of conduct by ‘engaging in a public and partisan campaign of lies to cover-up and conceal sexual misconduct and crimes he committed in the past.’
And while Kavanaugh’s political rhetoric last Thursday could lead to calls for recusal on certain cases should he be elevated to the high court, he’s under no obligation to do so.
Kavanaugh accused Democrats of wanting ‘revenge for the Clintons’ and on Trump’s election as president; Kavanaugh served on Ken Starr’s impeachment team when Bill Clinton was president (seen here with Hillary Clinton at the White House)
Garland was nominated by Obama to replace the late Supreme Court Justice Anthony Scalia when he had less than a year left in his presidency
President Bill Clinton speaking in White House Rose Garden, apologizing for behavior which led to House vote to impeach him, vowing to stay in office to the last hour, with then-Rep. Dick Gephardt, Vice President Al Gore and first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton
Kavanaugh began his testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee with a 45-minute, 5,200-word opening statement to instead issue a fiery denunciation of Democrats, accusing them of wanting ‘revenge for the Clintons’ and on Trump’s election as president.
‘This whole two-week effort has been a calculated and orchestrated political hit fueled with apparent pent-up anger about President Trump and the 2016 election,’ Kavanaugh claimed.
‘Fear that has been unfairly stoked about my judicial record, revenge on behalf of the Clintons, and millions of dollars in money from outside left-wing opposition groups.’
Kavanaugh was part of Ken Starr’s legal team that investigated impeachment charges against Clinton.
President Donald Trump’s nominee is under an FBI investigation for sexual allegations against him.
Christine Blasey Ford has accused Kavanaugh of pinning her to a bed, trying to rip off her clothes and covering her mouth when she screamed while they two of them were teenagers at a party in the 1980s.
Debra Ramirez claims Kavanaugh exposed himself to her during a dorm party at Yale University, thrust his penis in her face and forced her to touch it when she pushed him away.
Julie Swetnick claims Kavanaugh and his Georgetown Prep pal Mark Judge were part of a group of guys who drugged and gang raped women.
Kavanaugh has denied all allegations.
The FBI is investigating Ford and Ramirez’s claims and also is interviewing Judge. It’s unclear if the expanded scope will include Swetnick, who has said she is willing to speak to investigators.
Meanwhile, the Senate will vote on Kavanaugh’s confirmation to the Supreme Court this week, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell declared on Monday.
‘The goal posts keep shifting. But the goal hasn’t moved an inch. Not an inch. The goal has been the same all along. So let me make it very clear the time for endless delay and obstruction has come to a close,’ McConnell said on the Senate floor on Monday afternoon. ‘We’ll be voting this week.’