B2B Connectivity: Barbara Comstock & Brett Kavanaugh Linkages Explored

Barbara Comstock and Brett Kavanaugh have a long history together and have many similarities. They were part of a cabal in the 1990s in a too-often-overlooked network that professionalized GOP dirty tricks, embraced/promoted ugly conspiracy theories, and blazed the trail to the undermining of American democracy with the Trumpification of the Republican Party.

Briefly:

• Comstock was the linchpin staffer (and a true expert in “playing dirty“) in the House of Representatives investigations of Bill Clinton, while Brett Kavanaugh worked for Kenneth Starr (leaking material to the media to damage the Clintons and to boost Republican Party interests).
• Barbara and Brett regularly interacted in the 1990s, including colluding to raise conspiracy theories. That included the totally false, baseless, unhinged accusation that the Clintons had Vince Foster killed amid the TravelGate “scandal” (a great example of non-issue “scandals” that have been core to the GOP ever since) to items of national discussion. They both (likely in coordination/collusion) aggressively worked journalists to influence the discussion and successfully inserted partisan conspiracy theories into the press.
• Comstock and Kavanaugh were (are) part of a group (cabal seems an appropriate term) who have been linked over the past quarter century in a willingness, it seems, to use any and all (purportedly) “legal” tools to undermine American democracy in support of radical, partisan Republican agendas and politicians.

Should anyone be surprised that Comstock was part of the choir cheering Trump’s nomination of Kavanaugh?

You still think this, @RepComstock? Not a very good judge of character, apparently… https://t.co/Xktr9FXNcE

— lowkell (@lowkell) September 17, 2018

Barbara Comstock and Brett Kavanaugh are both partisan political operatives, involved together for decades in the professionalization of the GOP attack machine, and the effort to embed key operatives of that machine into positions of power (administrative, elected office, and judicial) in support of an extremist agenda to remake the 21st United States back into a dystopian Anne Rand-ish gilded age where those with power thrive and those without struggle to survive.

Comstock and accused sexual assaulter Kavanaugh

Nothing revealed or discussed in Kavanaugh’s Senate hearings and questionnaires – commonly-understood as perjury; (probable) involvement in criminal conspiracy to further Republican political objectives; lying about his judicial record; shady finances (really, who doesn’t build up $200k in baseball ticket debts?) – created any inkling that Comstock might regret her glowing praise for Kavanaugh.

An accusation of sexual assault changes that equation. Let us be clear, this is an accusation, but it is a quite plausible accusation considering Kavanaugh’s social milieu, friends’ group, and documented binge drinking in high school. In the face of this accusation, Comstock has been eerily silent and hasn’t even stood up like her close friend (and fellow partisan operative), Kellyanne Conway, to state ‘this woman should not be insulted and should not be ignored.”

Barbara Comstock has been seeking to create a reputation as a #MeToo leader in the House of Representatives.

Now, considering Comstock’s partisan lenses on sexual assault accusations (quick off the mark to attack Democratic Party/Democratic-linked men; either silence or begrudging engagements when it comes to accusations against Republican Party politicians), no surprise that extremist Barbara Comstock hasn’t come out with a fiery call for Kavanaugh to step down nor even a milquetoast statement calling for investigation and hearings.

Only hours after Christine Blasey Ford came forward to accuse Brett Kavanaugh of attempting to rape her in high school, the internet swamps had posted her address, cooked up conspiracies about her family, and attacked a porn account of a similar name https://t.co/uIx6TyKfKR

— The Daily Beast (@thedailybeast) September 17, 2018

Even recognizing Comstock’s decades-long track record of partisan hypocrisy, it is more than reasonable to call on Comstock to act (forcefully) to rein in the Republican / RWSM (“right wing sound machine”) that will attack, harshly, the woman (Christine Blasey Ford) who states that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her.

.@RepComstock, who seeks praise for #MeToo action in the House of Representatives, eerily silent as to increasingly serious accusations against #BrettKavanaugh.

Almost as if @BarbaraComstock puts @GOP above defending women as she puts #Party & @RealDonaldTrump above nation. https://t.co/8lkGvZo3Eb

— A Siegel (@A_Siegel) September 17, 2018

Without real action, the question becomes: Is Michael Mayer right to coin the phrase that Barbara Comstock is a member of the “pro-rape party”?

https://twitter.com/mmeyerdc/status/1041642149207580672

UPDATE

Shortly after this posting, reporting broke that Comstock has called for Professor Ford and Kavanaugh to testify under oath.

NEW: @BarbaraComstock – one of the most vulnerable House GOP members – calls for both Kavanaugh & Ford to testify on sexual assault accusation. pic.twitter.com/6iu40lTARB

— Melanie Zanona (@MZanona) September 17, 2018

NOTES:

1. Sadly …

some Ds mistakenly give Comstock political cover.

Regretfully, some Democratic House members have helped give Comstock political cover for election-year (electioneering) actions that might help move the ball forward within the management of the House of Representatives (incrementally).  That whitewashing of Comstock’s Potemkin village-like efforts when it comes to sexual issues (rapid fire reaction when accusations involve a Democratic Party politician and delayed or no reaction when it comes to Republican Party politicians; and lots of press releases as to legislative action, even if that ‘action’ has no result) is bizarre to consider. Why would some Democratic Party Representatives be so prepared to help create a veneer of “moderation” to an extremist who played a serious role in helping push the nation down the path of #AlternativeFacts/#FakeNews conspiracy-theories playing a such a significant part of our political dialogue; who is an extremely reliable (98% or so) vote for Donald Trump and Republican extremist agenda; and who is perhaps the most vulnerable Republican in the 2018 elections? Why?

2. Let us be clear, there should be no expectation that Barbara Comstock had reason to know of Brett Kavanaugh’s debauchery during his high school years — binge drinking, potential boofing (yuck), and the (increasingly serious) potential that he committed sexual assault. They, as understood at the moment, got to know each as adults, both involved in professionalizing Republican dirty tricks.  Perhaps only they know if they ever discussed their respective high school days, perhaps they never spoke for a second about whether they ever got drunk, perhaps …

In all honesty, as an adult, how many times have you looked at an adult acquaintances yearbook page?

https://twitter.com/JRMcGrail/status/1041421225577394177

For probably the vast majority of my professional acquaintances, even those I have socialized external work environments, I have little to no clue about their formative years.  This seems likely true for many other.

The question is not “why didn’t Barbara Comstock know about this long ago,” but whether/how Representative Comstock will act to either enable (even through inaction) attacks on a sexual assault victim to defend the accused attacker or whether she will act to demonstrate, clearly, that her “#MeToo” efforts are genuine rather than simply part and parcel of her career-long extreme partisanship.