Dear god

They're all in the same boat.  It keeps getting punched with holes, and nobody on the outside is available to help, apparently.

Yes, THAT Ed Whelan.  I figured we be seeing him in court as a defendant.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Maybe he wants to change his mind

Nice going. 

Smoking gun time?

On Sunday, Ford noticed that — even before her name became public — Whelan appeared to be seeking information about her.

That morning, Ford alerted an associate via email that Whelan had looked at her LinkedIn page, according to the email, which was reviewed by The Post. LinkedIn allows some subscribers to see who views their pages. Ford sent the email about 90 minutes after The Post shared her name with a White House spokesman and hours before her identity was revealed in a story posted on its website.

  WaPo

So, who's the White House spokesman, and who clued in Whelan?

A White House spokesman said Friday that neither Kavanaugh nor anyone in the White House gave Ford’s name to Whelan before it was disclosed by The Post.

Technically that could be true. It may have been passed from the White House to any one of the cabal that has been desperately trying to get Kavanaugh cleared. But it had to have come from the White House.  (Or directly from Kavanaugh because he knows who he attempted to rape.)

This may clear up the quick change between these two tweets:



Perhaps someone from the Post  who contacted the White House for comment on the story above did it after Grassley made his ultimatum (which was hedged after an earlier one saying 5pm) and before the official notice of postponement of the hearing.

Surely we'll be hearing very soon that Kavanaugh has withdrawn his name from consideration.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

UPDATE:

Whelan's helpers

A good place to start is Orrin Hatch's office.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

UPDATE:

Grassley flop sweat

Whelan worked with a PR firm

After suggesting on Twitter on Tuesday that he had obtained information that would exculpate Kavanaugh from the sexual assault allegation made by Christine Blasey Ford, Whelan worked over the next 48 hours with [CRC Public Relations, the prominent Alexandria, Virginia-based P.R. firm] and its president, Greg Mueller, to stoke the anticipation. A longtime friend of Kavanaugh’s, Whelan teased his reveal — even as he refused to discuss it with other colleagues and close friends, a half dozen of them said.

  Politico

They're obviously not as stupid as Whelan. 'No. Noooooooo. He didn't tell me what exactly he had up his sleeve.'

Thanks in part to the anticipation Whelan ginned up, Republicans who had gotten excited by the prospect that he really did have information that would solve Kavanaugh’s problems drew attention to Whelan. They later insisted they were kept in the dark until he went public, and fled from any association with Whelan’s theory.

Run, you chickenshits, run.

The coordinated effort was a testament to the far-reaching but frenzied attempt among conservatives to save Kavanaugh, which appeared to have spun out of the White House’s control. Indeed, Whelan told associates that he had kept his friend Kavanaugh and those working with him in the White House in the dark about his plans.

That's the lot of every Scooter Libby in politics. Somebody has to take the fall, and it's not a stretch to figure it will be the guy who put his neck on the line.

On Friday, hours after Whelan called his decision to name and post photographs of Kavanaugh’s high school classmate “an appalling an inexcusable mistake of judgment,” CRC helped organize a news conference featuring an array of women who dismissed Ford’s allegations.

Triage!

Best known for its work with the Swift Boat Veterans in 2004, CRC bills itself as a full-service communications firm “specializing in media relations, social media and issues management,” according to its website. It has long been the go-to communications firm for conservative organizations in Washington and across the country. Its current clients include the Federalist Society and the Judicial Crisis Network, the chief outside groups working to help confirm Kavanaugh.

But neither Kavanaugh nor Grassley's asses knew a thing about it, right?

After unsuccessful attempts to persuade reporters to chase down a theory he put forward on Twitter [...] Whelan worked with CRC's Mueller.

Not even Fox???  The fact that he couldn't sell the story to reporters is remarkable and should have been a flashing red light to him - and the Kavanaugh cabal.

It is unclear to what extent Whelan was coordinating with members of the Senate Judiciary Committee and other Republicans on Capitol Hill. He was in communication with at least one Republican member of the committee this week, and that member told associates he was aware Whelan’s theory involved the home of a Kavanaugh classmate near the Chevy Chase Country Club.

Matt Whitlock, deputy chief of staff to Sen. Orrin Hatch (R.-Utah), directed people to Whelan’s Twitter feed on Wednesday in a tweet of his own and later deleted his tweet.

[...]

After Whelan unveiled his theory Thursday evening, Whitlock deleted the tweet, explaining that he “didn’t want to promote” anything that “dragged an unrelated private citizen into this unfortunate situation.”

“I had no idea," Whitlock added, "what Ed was planning.”

Sure. And Hatch himself didn't know anything about it, right?

Neither Whelan nor the CRC's president responded to a request for comment.

What a surprise.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Ed Whelan's strategy

On Thursday night, Twitter was aflame with the news that a prominent conservative legal strategist had gone public with the theory that another man may have been the perpetrator of the alleged sexual assault against Christine Blasey Ford.

The strategist suggested that Ford had confused this man for Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh — and worse, he named the other man, in effect publicly accusing him of committing attempted rape.

Ford promptly denied that she had confused this man for Kavanaugh. [...] Kavanaugh needs to clarify whether he had any advance knowledge of this strategy of pinning the blame on someone else.

Senior Democratic aides tell me that, in the upcoming Judiciary Committee hearing, Senate Democrats are likely to pose questions along these lines directly to Kavanaugh, when he is under oath.

The conservative strategist who floated the alternate attempted rape theory, Ed Whelan, has been active in conservative judicial circles for a long time, and is close to Kavanaugh. He posted a long Twitter thread — which we will not link to here, and nor will we name the man he fingered — that rather creatively employed maps and floor plans of the house at which he suggested the attack took place. Whelan also posted the name and a photo of his alternate suspect.

[...]

The senior aide also noted that this was particularly important to pursue given that a particular person was named, and because it constituted an open acknowledgment by a top Kavanaugh ally that “the party in question” — where the alleged attack took place — “actually happened.”

[...]

Whelan apologized on Friday morning for publicly implicating someone else, and it is, of course, entirely possible that Kavanaugh had no knowledge whatsoever of Whelan’s machinations.

  Greg Sargeant @ WaPo

But not likely. Give him another chance to lie to Congress.

On Thursday, a top aide to Sen. Orrin G. Hatch, a Utah Republican who sits on the Judiciary Committee, mysteriously told everyone to keep an eye on Whelan’s Twitter feed. Though he has since claimed no knowledge of Whelan’s plan, this at least raises questions as to whether it had come up in internal discussions with the very Republicans who will vote to move Kavanaugh’s nomination forward.

Indeed, Steve Schmidt, who ran Supreme Court confirmation efforts for Republicans in the past but recently left the GOP, was quite forceful on this point. He noted on Twitter that “it is inconceivable to me,” based on his own experience, “that Whelan published that email without discussions, debate and assistance” from the White House and “GOP Senators and staff.”

#MeToo.

Republicans on Capitol Hill and White House officials immediately sought to distance themselves from Whelan’s claims and said they were not aware of his plans to identify the former classmate, now a middle school teacher, who could not be reached for comment and did not answer the door at his house Thursday night.

Whelan did not respond to requests for comment. He had told people around him that he had spent several days putting together the theory and thought it was more convincing than her story, according to two friends who had talked to him.

On Friday morning, Whelan said he had made an “inexcusable mistake” by identifying Kavanaugh’s classmate.

[...]

Whelan has been involved in helping to advise Kavanaugh’s confirmation effort and is close friends with both Kavanaugh and Leonard Leo, the head of the Federalist Society who has been helping to spearhead the nomination. Kavanaugh and Whelan also worked together in the Bush administration.

Kavanaugh and his allies have been privately discussing a defense that would not question whether an incident involving Ford happened, but instead would raise doubts that the attacker was Kavanaugh, according to a person familiar with the discussions.

[...]

Earlier this week, Kavanaugh told Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah), one of his most fervent supporters, that Ford has the wrong perpetrator in mind and that he has not attended a party like the one Ford described in an account she gave The Post this week of the alleged assault.

  WaPo

And as far as I know, Kavanaugh has not denied any involvement yet. I have a feeling they're all now bunkered to decide the best way for him to withdraw. Or maybe I'm just hoping.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

GOP running for cover

That's pretty specific as to who he DIDN'T talk to.

Trump's speculation about why Ford didn't report her alleged high-school-era assault if it “was as bad as she says" comes just hours after a close Kavanaugh ally sought to implicate another classmate of the nominee and Ford in the attack on her -- a Kavanaugh exoneration theory hotly anticipated by the GOP that landed with a deafening thud.

The one-two punch of Trump and prominent conservative lawyer Ed Whelan's unsuccessful attempts to undercut Ford and boost Kavanaugh leaves the GOP effort to confirm the 53-year-old appeals court judge in fresh peril. It caps a week of roller-coaster talks over whether his 51-year-old accuser, a California-based professor, will testify publicly.

[...]

Republicans said that their party is now more likely to accommodate Ford’s attorney’s requests for testimony next week after the president’s broadside, given the lack of compassion it showed toward an alleged victim. She’s asked for one camera, subpoenas of other witnesses, to not be in the same room as Kavanaugh and to testify after him.

“The issue is that the compassion component Is now turned on its head because you have the president filling the airwaves with something that is not compassionate,” said a plugged-in former Republican leadership aide. “People will go out of their way now to be much more accommodating to unreasonable requests than they were yesterday.”

  Politico

I guess at least it's good they're concerned about the optics. They sure aren't concerned about the justice.

Whelan, president of the right-leaning Ethics and Public Policy Center, had heavily forecast new information about Ford's allegation that emerged as a series of tweets trying to blame another man — who supports Kavanaugh — for the alleged assault.

The Senate GOP had been in touch with Whelan about his theory, and though they were unaware of the details there was some excitement that Kavanaugh's name could be cleared this week. Whelan's attempt backfired spectacularly and he sought to apologize for it on Friday.

"I was very surprised to see it happen the way it did. I thought there was like, you know, a plan," said one Republican aide. "The timing and method of dispersing the information was way past underwhelming."

Republicans had been looking to Whelan as a credible defender of Kavanaugh's, given his central position in defending the president's nominees and advocating for a more conservative court. People working to confirm Kavanaugh said Whelan's credibility is now shot.

They may have been in on the deal with him, but they'll certainly let him hang for it alone.

Totally believable

I've got to say this for Grassley's asses: they didn't join in.



Does anybody think Ed Whelan came up with this on his own and decided to tweet it without running it by anyone?

UPDATE:



That's pretty specific as to who he DIDN'T talk to.

Trump's speculation about why Ford didn't report her alleged high-school-era assault if it “was as bad as she says" comes just hours after a close Kavanaugh ally sought to implicate another classmate of the nominee and Ford in the attack on her -- a Kavanaugh exoneration theory hotly anticipated by the GOP that landed with a deafening thud.

The one-two punch of Trump and prominent conservative lawyer Ed Whelan's unsuccessful attempts to undercut Ford and boost Kavanaugh leaves the GOP effort to confirm the 53-year-old appeals court judge in fresh peril. It caps a week of roller-coaster talks over whether his 51-year-old accuser, a California-based professor, will testify publicly.

[...]

Republicans said that their party is now more likely to accommodate Ford’s attorney’s requests for testimony next week after the president’s broadside, given the lack of compassion it showed toward an alleged victim. She’s asked for one camera, subpoenas of other witnesses, to not be in the same room as Kavanaugh and to testify after him.

“The issue is that the compassion component Is now turned on its head because you have the president filling the airwaves with something that is not compassionate,” said a plugged-in former Republican leadership aide. “People will go out of their way now to be much more accommodating to unreasonable requests than they were yesterday.”

  Politico

I guess at least it's good they're concerned about the optics. They sure aren't concerned abou the justice.

Whelan, president of the right-leaning Ethics and Public Policy Center, had heavily forecast new information about Ford's allegation that emerged as a series of tweets trying to blame another man — who supports Kavanaugh — for the alleged assault.

The Senate GOP had been in touch with Whelan about his theory, and though they were unaware of the details there was some excitement that Kavanaugh's name could be cleared this week. Whelan's attempt backfired spectacularly and he sought to apologize for it on Friday.

"I was very surprised to see it happen the way it did. I thought there was like, you know, a plan," said one Republican aide. "The timing and method of dispersing the information was way past underwhelming."

Republicans had been looking to Whelan as a credible defender of Kavanaugh's, given his central position in defending the president's nominees and advocating for a more conservative court. People working to confirm Kavanaugh said Whelan's credibility is now shot.

They may have been in on the deal with him, but they'll certainly let him hang for it alone.

UPDATE:

Ford dismissed Whelan’s theory in a statement late Thursday: “I knew them both, and socialized with” the other classmate, Ford said, adding that she had once visited him in the hospital. “There is zero chance that I would confuse them.”

  WaPo

A hard one to call

At LEAST until then.  At which time, he'll go back to the court he's already on, with no repercussions, and he'll be treated like a victim. 






Truly stunning.  And Old Lardass hasn't even tweeted Fox idiots comments yet.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Speaking of Ed Whelan again...

Jesus Christ.

I suppose when Trump sees that, he'll be tweeting it.

Speaking of Ed Whelan

Caption that photo.  Here, I'll help:  Two disgusting pricks.  It's as simple as that.

After writing a (now removed) thread on Twitter that sparked instant, widespread backlash, president of the conservative Ethics and Public Policy Center Ed Whelan apologized for identifying the hypothetical perpetrator in his speculation that professor Christine Blasey Ford’s sexual assault allegation is a case of mistaken identity.

Blasey Ford shot down the theory in a statement. “I knew them both and socialized with [the man Whelan accused],” she said. “There is zero chance that I would confuse them.”

Whelan has not apologized to Blasey Ford.

[...]

Whelan is also getting heat because he has a close personal relationship to Kavanaugh, which he did not disclose while spitballing his theory.
  TPM

He should be getting more than heat. That was a serious and shitty thing he did. He should be disbarred.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

UPDATE:

The serial assaulter weighs in

Asshole.  Charges are very rarely filed in cases like this...ESPECIALLY WHEN THEY AREN'T REPORTED...you dipshit.  And now, impune her parents.  That's almost as bad as the guy who tried to pull in and accuse some guy who had nothing to do with it.  You people are disgusting.

This is probably not a subject Trump should be publicly weighing in on.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

UPDATE:



UPDATE 9/22:



Bingo.

#WhyIDidntReport

Dear God!

UPDATE 9/22:  I've gone through this post and edited out the other man's name, as he doesn't deserve to have it spread.

This asshole has offered up another man, who he actually names!, as the man who may have assaulted Christine Ford because...get this...he and Kavanaugh look alike!

I'll just post the last of his tweet shit...





 Want to guess who Ed Whelan is?

Ed Whelan, the president of conservative think tank the Ethics and Public Policy Center (EPPC), made a bold prediction on Twitter that “compelling evidence” would exonerate Kavanaugh next week.

“By one week from today [it was Sept. 18] I expect that Judge Kavanaugh will have been clearly vindicated on this matter. Specifically, I expect that compelling evidence will show his categorical denial to be truthful,” Whelan tweeted on Tuesday. “There will be no cloud over him.”

“It’s precisely b/c sexual assault is so terrible that it is deeply unjust when someone is mistakenly (even good-faith mistakenly) accused of having committed it,” he said. “Everyone should rejoice when the mistake is found.”

[...]

Whelan did link to a Yahoo story saying this may be a case of “mistaken identity.”

  Law and Crime

I believe that bullshit can be lain at the feet of Old Bag Orrin Hatch who said Ford could be "mixed up".

The president of the Ethics and Public Policy Center.  Some ethics.  I'm guessing he's also the only member.

We'll surely be seeing Mr. Whelan in court.

[Whelan] said that Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) would “soon be apologizing” to Kavanaugh and that Kavanaugh’s “suffering […] will be shown to have been deeply unjust.”

Kavanaugh's suffering!!

It is notable that Whelan is opposed to the requested FBI investigation, opposed to a subpoena of alleged witness Mark Judge, and opposed to the delay of Monday’s planned hearing.

Of course he is!

It’s also notable that Whelan once clerked for deceased Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. Whelan’s also a long-time friend of Kavanaugh’s.

Two fucking surprises!

And this is the Gateway Pundit headline (to which I am purposely not providing a link):

Ford knew who Kavanaugh was.  She knew him.  No doubt there were several prep assholes who looked much like that.

Unbelievable.

Ed Whelan is a lawyer.  He should lose his license.

UPDATE:

Really??  This lawyer needs a dictionary.

UPDATE:



And, to Ed....