“Brett Kavanaugh is a fine man”

The argument

This response to the allegations rests on character testimony rather than on evidence about the events themselves, and it is assembled from two kinds of witness. The first is political and public. Current President Donald Trump and former President George W. Bush were among those to defend Brett Kavanaugh's character, the former calling him a "fine, fine person" and the latter assuring the public that he is a "man of the highest integrity". Statements of that sort are offered as a signal about standing: two presidents were prepared to attach their own reputations to his at a moment when doing so carried a political cost. The second kind of witness is presented as carrying more weight, because it comes from people with direct knowledge of the period the allegations concern. More than 65 female witnesses who knew Kavanaugh from his high school and college days wrote a letter to Senator Chuck Grassley. Their number is itself part of the argument, since a single character reference can be discounted as loyalty, while a large group of separate acquaintances is harder to account for in that way. What they said is the substance of the response. Within the letter, they argued that the allegations against Kavanaugh are completely out of character with the Brett Kavanaugh they knew, and asserted that in the 35 years they have known him, he has behaved honourably and treated women with respect. The reasoning invited is inferential: conduct of the kind alleged is held to be unlikely to appear in isolation, so had it been part of how he behaved, women who knew him at the time and in the decades since would have encountered some sign of it. On this view, consistent testimony across that span is what supports the conclusion that he did not do it.

Context

Following Dr. Christine Blasey Ford’s allegations, prominent Republicans rushed to defend Kavanaugh’s character.

Premises

Counter-arguments

Brett Kavanaugh has demonstrated time and time again that he is not a man of impeccable character. He has a long record of lying under oath. In 2001, he told the Senate hearing for the nomination of Charles Pickering that he had no prior knowledge of Judge Pickering’s decision to solicit letters of support from lawyers with cases pending in his courtroom (a clear breach of judicial ethics). However, newly obtained emails show that Kavanaugh was lying. He handled the nomination personally. In 2004, he denied involvement in the theft of documents belonging to Democratic senators. Recently released emails show that he received the documents, then forwarded them to third parties. He evidently knew the severity of what he was doing, as the subject line of the email read, “Spying”. There is also some speculation about his character at school. Despite the 65 women claiming the allegations are completely unlike Brett Kavanaugh’s character, other witnesses have claimed the allegations fit very well with the Kavanaugh they remember. One of Kavanaugh’s former roommates at Yale described him as an “aggressive and even belligerent” drunk.

Rejecting the premises

Not everyone remembers him as a man of integrity. Several who knew him well have admitted he was often aggressive and belligerent when drunk.