Shapiro: A history of Democratic smears
Democrats have a long, inglorious history of trotting out unverified and unverifiable allegations to fight against conservatives or constitutional originalists.
It's pretty obvious, at this point, that the Democratic attempts to smear Brett Kavanaugh are just that: a smear attempt. It's an election ploy, an attempt to rev up the base.
Whether Kavanaugh accuser Christine Blasey Ford is telling the truth or getting her story wrong, it's obvious that Democrats are engaged in politicking. And they're not even trying to hide it anymore.
That's the promise Democrats are making: either elect them to stop Kavanaugh from being appointed, or elect them to impeach Kavanaugh. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., – you remember him, this is the guy who said that Kavanaugh's hearing was a "sham" – explaining to CNN's Jake Tapper on Thursday that Democrats will move to get rid of Kavanaugh if they take the Senate:
There are supposedly other boys, there is a whole investigative process that can and should take place. And, you know what, this is such bad practice that even if they were to ram this guy through, as soon as Democrats get gavels we're going to want to get to the bottom of this.
So this is never-ending. Democrats are just going to use the election as a referendum on the Supreme Court.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass, is fundraising off of the Ford accusations. How crazy is that?!
She sent out an email explaining, "This is outrageous. Brett Kavanaugh was already disqualified to serve on the Supreme Court." -- Of course, we don't know how.
"But now we're learning new information about a sexual assault allegation." This her email says, "Donate now."
Do you know who Ford is using to advise her? Democratic operative Ricki Seidman. You may not have heard of Seidman. But she worked as Joe Biden's communications director in 2008.
She also worked for President Obama to push Sonia Sotomayor for the Supreme Court and she also worked for the Clinton White House.
More importantly, she also worked for Senator Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts. And, according to Politico, was also involved with Anita Hill's decision to testify against Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas.
And that's where this all began. Democrats have a long, inglorious history of trotting out unverified and unverifiable allegations to fight against conservatives or Constitutional originalists.
In 1991, Democrats decided to sandbag Clarence Thomas, President George H.W. Bush's nominee for the Supreme Court.
Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee sought out Anita Hill, a former staffer for Thomas at the Department of Education and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
Two days after Thomas' hearings began, Senator Joe Biden – you remember that guy! – he told the committee of allegations that Thomas had sexually harassed her.
He also said Hill insisted her name be kept anonymous (sound familiar) and that Thomas be kept in the dark about the accusations.
Just days after Thomas' hearings closed, Hill gave a statement allowing the FBI to investigate the claims against Thomas.
The FBI determined that the allegations were unfounded. Thomas' nomination was sent to the full Senate.
Weeks later, NPR reported on the FBI report, which leaked, and Hill testified, again, Congress. Thomas denied the allegations:
I have been wracking my brain and eating my insides out, trying to think of what I could have said or done to Anita Hill to lead her to allege that I was interested in her in more than a professional way.
Thomas wasn't wrong. There was simply no evidence of the allegations other than Anita Hill's allegations.
Anita Hill, by her own admission, followed Thomas from the Department of Education to the EEOC, even though she had Schedule-A attorney job protection.
She spoke with him on the phone multiple times according to phone logs after leaving the EEOC, but said she didn't.
She asked him for a job recommendation. She also told Senators that she had been told by aides to Democratic Senators that if she came forward, Thomas might withdraw his nomination without the process going forward.
When Thomas was confirmed, the vast majority of Americans thought Thomas was more believable than Hill.
Thomas was confirmed by a Democratic Senate. Now, however, HBO makes movies about Anita Hill's supposed bravery. And political guru Chelsea Handler says Clarence Thomas is a sexual abuser, tweeting this:
One known sexual predator on the Supreme Court isn't enough for Republicans. They want two. The president bragging about sexual assault isn't an issue for them either. They have no regard for women. No regards for their daughters or wives.
Truth be told, Thomas wasn't the first Republican-nominated prospective justice to be destroyed on the basis of false accusations.
Robert Bork was labeled a racist and a sexist without evidence by Democrats including Teddy Kennedy and again Joe Biden. Kennedy said this:
Robert Bork's America is a land in which women would be forced into back-alley abortions, blacks would sit at segregated lunchcounters, rogue police could break down citizens doors in midnight raids and school children could not be taught about evolution.
Slanderous, disgusting, evidence-free allegations that took down Robert Bork.
Now, fast forward to 2012. We remember this one. Former Massachusetts Republican Governor Mitt Romney is running a tight, competitive race with incumbent Democrat President Barack Obama.
So Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., simply slanders him by stating on the floor of the Senate that Romney hadn't paid his taxes:
So, the word's out that he hasn't paid any taxes for 10 years. Let him prove that he has paid taxes. Because he hasn't.
Let him prove it! It's not Reid's job to prove that he didn't pay taxes. It's Romney's job to prove that he did pay taxes. You have to prove that you obeyed the law.
Reid then released a statement explaining, "As I said before, I was told by an extremely credible source that Romney has not paid taxes for ten years."
(And I was told my an extremely credible source that Harry Reid likes to murder puppies in his backyard!)
How did Reid respond to the fact that it turns out Romney did pay his taxes and that he was an abject liar? Here's what he told CNN's Dana Bash on CNN on March 31, 2015:
Dana Bash: So, no regrets, about Mitt Romney, about the Koch brothers? Because some people have even called it McCarthy-ite.
Harry Reid: Well, they can call it whatever they want. Romney didn't win, did he?
That's all that matters to Democrats. Not the truth. Not decency. Winning.
Adapted from the September 23 "The Ben Shapiro Election Special."
Ben Shapiro is editor-in-chief of "The Daily Wire" and host of the nationally syndicated radio program and podcast, "The Ben Shapiro Show." He is host of a special pre-election series on Fox News Channel this fall: "The Ben Shapiro Election Special." The speical will air for four consecutive weeks on Sundays between 8 p.m. and 9 p.m. starting September 23.
