Dear MoveOn member,
When Maine Senator Susan Collins cast the deciding vote to confirm Brett Kavanaugh to a lifetime appointment to the Supreme Court, she called the investigation into whether Kavanaugh had sexually assaulted multiple women "very thorough."1
We learned last weekend that nothing could be further from the truth. The FBI did absolutely nothing—ZERO—to investigate a third allegation of sexual assault, made at the time by Max Stier, a Yale University classmate of Kavanaugh who now leads a prominent, nonpartisan organization in Washington, D.C.2 Stier came forward to say that he had seen Kavanaugh with his pants down at a party and that friends had pushed Kavanaugh's penis into a woman's hand. Stier tried to reach the FBI—both directly and through a senator—but the FBI did not even respond, much less interview him or otherwise investigate his accusation.
We also learned last weekend that the FBI did not contact nor interview the 25 people whose names fellow Yale classmate Deborah Ramirez had provided to the agency to corroborate her very similar allegation against Kavanaugh.3
In fact, the FBI did not even interview Dr. Christine Blasey Ford—who testified under oath to the Senate that Kavanaugh attempted to rape her—or her corroborating witnesses.4 And the FBI did not interview Kavanaugh.5
And, yet, Sen. Collins says that she is "proud" of her vote to confirm Kavanaugh.6
If you're outraged, Eddie, you're not alone. Sen. Collins' support has cratered in Maine, and the nonpartisan Cook Political Report now considers her re-election prospects a "toss-up."7 And we need to defeat Collins if we're going to end GOP control of the Senate next year. There are only a few seats that are even competitive—and Maine is key.
But since voting to confirm Kavanaugh, Sen. Collins has seen a massive surge in right-wing campaign donations, shattering her previous records.8 And we learned just this week that a dark money group linked to Donald Trump has already—more than a year before the election—launched a six-figure TV ad campaign praising Collins for being "independent" and "in the Maine tradition."9
It's going to take a huge effort to defeat Susan Collins, end GOP control of the Senate, and ensure that no one as categorically unfit to serve as Brett Kavanaugh is confirmed ever again.
And we need to get going. Will you chip in $3 to help out? Click here now.
Sen. Collins didn't just cast the deciding vote to elevate Kavanaugh to a lifetime appointment to the Supreme Court.
The day before her vote she took to the floor of the Senate and spent 43 minutes and 30 seconds railing against the opposition to Kavanaugh and spewing Trump's talking points.
Sen. Collins called the opposition to Kavanaugh "a caricature of a gutter-level political campaign" and accused organizations of sexual assault survivors and women of "spreading misrepresentations and outright falsehoods" about Kavanaugh.10
And what did Sen. Collins say about Dr. Blasey Ford, the only victim allowed to testify during the confirmation hearings? Sen. Collins disregarded Dr. Blasey Ford's harrowing testimony recounting Kavanaugh and a friend pushing her into a bedroom during a high school party, holding her down and covering her mouth with such force that she feared for her life, and laughing while they assaulted her.
And now, Sen. Collins has dismissed the new revelations about Kavanaugh.11
Make no mistake about it: Sen. Collins will be very tough to beat. After 22 years in the Senate, she's a political institution in Maine, has sailed to re-election in the past, and she has a double-digit lead in early polls versus her challengers.12
And if we don't defeat her, we probably won't end GOP control of the Senate. That's why MoveOn is going all-in to defeat Susan Collins and her GOP allies and end GOP control of the Senate. The stakes couldn't be higher, and we simply can't do it without you. Will you chip in now to help out?
Thanks for all you do.
–Emily, Erica, Reggie, Scott, and the rest of the team
Sources:
1. "The new Kavanaugh allegation is important because of what it says about the FBI," Vox, September 16, 2019
https://act.moveon.org/go/93062?t=4&akid=246141%2E10220574%2E1Gd5TU
2. "Brett Kavanaugh Fit In With the Privileged Kids. She Did Not." The New York Times, September 14, 2019
https://act.moveon.org/go/93063?t=6&akid=246141%2E10220574%2E1Gd5TU
3. Ibid.
4. "Ford attorneys slam FBI's Kavanaugh investigation for not interviewing Ford, witnesses," The Hill, October 3, 2018
https://act.moveon.org/go/93064?t=8&akid=246141%2E10220574%2E1Gd5TU
5. Ibid.
6. "Collins 'proud' of votes for Trump tax cuts, Kavanaugh," Beacon, July 9, 2019
https://act.moveon.org/go/93065?t=10&akid=246141%2E10220574%2E1Gd5TU
7. "Susan Collins is in the political fight of her life, and Brett Kavanaugh is a huge factor," Vox, September 16, 2019
https://act.moveon.org/go/93069?t=12&akid=246141%2E10220574%2E1Gd5TU
8. "Susan Collins raises $2M in second quarter fundraising, surpassing 2014 reelection bid," The Hill, July 15, 2019
https://act.moveon.org/go/93066?t=14&akid=246141%2E10220574%2E1Gd5TU
9. "Outside group spends big on media blitz to support Sen. Collins' campaign," Portland Press Herald, September 17, 2019
https://act.moveon.org/go/93067?t=16&akid=246141%2E10220574%2E1Gd5TU
10. "Sen. Susan Collins faces fresh fire after emergence of new Kavanaugh allegation," The Washington Post, September 16, 2019
https://act.moveon.org/go/93068?t=18&akid=246141%2E10220574%2E1Gd5TU
11. Ibid.
12. "Susan Collins is in the political fight of her life, and Brett Kavanaugh is a huge factor," Vox, September 16, 2019
https://act.moveon.org/go/93069?t=20&akid=246141%2E10220574%2E1Gd5TU
Want to support our work? The MoveOn community will work every moment, day by day and year by year, to resist Trump's agenda, contain the damage, defeat hate with love, and begin the process of swinging the nation's pendulum back toward sanity, decency, and the kind of future that we must never give up on. And to do it we need your support, now more than ever. Will you stand with us?
Click here to chip in $3, or whatever you can afford.
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This email was sent to Eddie Alfaro on September 18th, 2019. To change your email address or update your contact info, click here. To remove yourself from this list, click here.
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