Government Watchdogs Call for an Impeachment Investigation Against Justice Kavanaugh for Potential Sexual Assault, Perjury, and Bringing the Judiciary into Disrepute

WASHINGTON - ImpeachBrett.org, a non-partisan campaign led by Free Speech For People, launched a petition today, following the vote in the U.S. Senate to confirm Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court, calling on the House Judiciary Committee to begin immediate hearings on whether to impeach Judge Brett Kavanaugh on multiple counts of sexual assault, perjury, and bringing the judiciary into disrepute. Evidence has emerged that Justice Kavanaugh lied repeatedly under oath to the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee in his 2004 and 2006 confirmation hearings to serve on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and in his 2018 confirmation hearings to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court. Furthermore, during the Supreme Court confirmation process, the Senate received credible testimony that Justice Kavanaugh committed sexual assault in his past. The petition calls on The House Judiciary Committee to conduct a full factual investigation of these allegations.

"No one is above the law, not even a Supreme Court Justice," said John Bonifaz, Co-Founder and President of Free Speech For People. "There is overwhelming evidence that now-Justice Kavanaugh repeatedly lied under oath during this Supreme Court confirmation process and during the confirmation process in 2004 and 2006 for his position on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. Further, Dr. Christine Blasey Ford has presented powerful and credible testimony that Brett Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her when she was 15 years old. And, there are serious allegations from two other women that he committed other acts of sexual violence. All of this warrants an immediate impeachment investigation."

"Even though the U.S. Senate has recklessly confirmed Judge Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court, the evidence remains that he committed perjury multiple times during these hearings and during his nomination hearings in 2004 and 2006 for a seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit," said Lisa Graves, the co-director of Documented. "And now there is disturbing evidence suggesting that he may have committed sexual assaults, and once again, lied about it to the Senate. It is imperative for the House Judiciary Committee to begin an impeachment investigation of Justice Kavanaugh. A judicial officer who has committed perjury, let alone sexual assault, does not belong on the Supreme Court or on any court in America."

"This shouldn't be controversial, but U.S. Supreme Court justices should not be sexual assailants or perjurers. The evidence suggests that Brett Kavanaugh committed sexual assault in his youth, and continues to lie about it today--just as the White House emails reveal that he lied in his first confirmation process about receiving stolen documents. The Senate rushed through this process without taking the opportunity to conduct a real investigation of the serious charges against Kavanaugh. It's not too late for the House of Representatives to demand answers, and if warranted after a full investigation, to impeach Kavanaugh." said Ron Fein, Legal Director of Free Speech For People.

"It is difficult to imagine a greater affront to our Constitutional order than allowing a man who has secured his judicial position by repeatedly lying under oath to serve on the highest Court in the land," said Ben Clements, a former federal prosecutor and Board Chair of Free Speech For People. "The specter of a man with a history of sexual assault and abusive treatment of women making the most important and impactful decisions about the rights of women and victims is equally outrageous. Congress must begin an impeachment investigation of Judge Kavanaugh immediately."

Federal judges, including U.S. Supreme Court Justices, can be impeached and removed from the judiciary for committing perjury and other offenses. Federal Judge Thomas Porteous was impeached by the U.S. House and convicted (90-6) by the U.S. Senate in 2010 on grounds which included that he "knowingly made material false statements about his past to ... the United States Senate ... in order to obtain the office of United States District Court Judge." The Senate subsequently voted to disqualify him from ever holding federal office again.

In 2012, the New York Commission on Judicial Conduct determined that a state family court judge, then 65 years old, should be removed from office because of a sexual assault that he had committed at age 25, 13 years before entering the judiciary. The commission found that "[t]here can be no dispute that it would be intolerable for a person holding a position of public trust to engage in such behavior," and while "it would be rare indeed for conduct so remote in time to disqualify a person from serving as a judge," the judge's misconduct was "of sufficient gravity as to render him unfit for judicial office." The New York State Court of Appeals agreed. It noted that "the petition is based solely on conduct that occurred 40 years ago - 13 years before petitioner was elevated to the bench," but concluded that "[n]evertheless, the misconduct alleged is grave by any standard" and rejected his challenge.

The Framers of the U.S. Constitution understood that corruption in the process of obtaining a federal office is an impeachable offense. In the constitutional debates over the impeachment power, George Mason asked rhetorically: "Shall the man who has practised corruption & by that means procured his appointment in the first instance, be suffered to escape punishment, by repeating his guilt?" Judge Kavanaugh's perjury in the process of obtaining his current appointment to the U.S. Supreme Court and his former position on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, should, as with Judge Porteous, lead to his removal from the federal judiciary and should disqualify him from ever holding a future federal office.

For more information or to sign the petition, visit: www.ImpeachBrett.org