Anita Hill weighed in on the sexual assault allegations against Judge Brett Kavanaugh Tuesday and said one week is not enough time for the Senate to conduct a fair hearing.
In a New York Times op-ed, Ms. Hill gave her advice on how Congress should conduct themselves in looking into the sexual assault allegations against Judge Kavanaugh.
“That the [Judiciary] committee plans to hold a hearing this coming Monday is discouraging. Simply put, a week’s preparation is not enough time for meaningful inquiry into very serious charges,” Ms. Hill wrote.
She warned that rushing to conduct the hearings would not only result in missing key details, but would also suggest that such accusations “are not important.”
She also called for the Senate Judiciary Committee to employ a “neutral investigative body with experience in sexual misconduct” to investigate Christine Blasey Ford’s accusations that Judge Kavanaugh assaulted her at a high school party in the 1980s.
In Ms. Hill’s opinion, the “burden of persuasion” should fall on Judge Kavanaugh because of the stature of his lifetime appointment.
“The investigators’ report should frame the hearing, not politics or myths about sexual assault,” she wrote.
Many compare Ms. Hill’s experience accusing then-Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas of sexual harassment in 1991 to Ms. Ford’s allegations.
“With the current heightened awareness of sexual violence comes heightened accountability for our representatives,” she wrote.
A hearing is scheduled for Monday to address the allegations against Judge Kavanaugh, and both parties confirmed they would be willing to talk to Congress about the accusations.
Senate Democrats are pushing back against the hearing, and demanding that the FBI conduct an investigation into the claims.
• Gabriella Muñoz can be reached at gmunoz@washingtontimes.com.
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