EDITORIAL: A shameless smear on Judge Brett Kavanaugh

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., is pulling from the Harry Reid playbook in an underhanded effort to stop the Supreme Court nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh.

On Thursday, Feinstein announced that she had received a letter from an unnamed individual concerning the nomination of Kavanaugh. “That individual strongly requested confidentiality, declined to come forward or press the matter further, and I have honored that decision. I have, however, referred the matter to federal investigative authorities.”

Feinstein’s statement is full of insinuation but lacking any accusation whatsoever. That came from an anonymous source talking to the New York Times, which said that the letter “included the allegation of sexual misconduct toward the letter’s author.”

That is a serious charge, and if there’s a chance it was true, you would expect Feinstein to handle it in a serious manner. A secret letter from a secret source requesting secrecy about a secret matter is the slimy political slur, not a quest for justice. There’s no way for Kavanaugh to defend himself because there’s no charge. Feinstein and her liberal allies are simply dragging his name through the mud in an effort to stop his nomination.

The most egregious example of this came from the far-left website Think Progress.

“Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh may have committed a very serious crime — possibly even a sex crime. Or maybe he didn’t,” Ian Millhiser wrote.

“Or maybe he didn’t” is quite the escape hatch. It allows the author to accuse anyone of anything and besmirch his character, while avoiding charges of libel.

The whole incident is reminiscent of Reid claiming that an anonymous source told him in 2012 that then-Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney hadn’t paid taxes for 10 years.

“The word is out that he has not paid any taxes for 10 years,” Reid said about Romney from the Senate floor. “Let him prove he has paid taxes because he has not.”

It was a baldfaced lie, but Reid didn’t care. Years later, Reid called it “one of the best things I’ve ever done.”

Not because it was true but because his falsehoods helped ensure the re-election of Barack Obama. Achieving his political ends justified a lie. So far, the parallels between Reid’s lie and Feinstein’s vague statement are striking.

“Senator Schumer promised to ‘oppose Judge Kavanaugh’s nomination with everything I have,’ and it appears he is delivering with this eleventh-hour attempt to delay his confirmation,” White House spokeswoman Kerri Kupec said.

So far, Republicans are moving ahead with planned votes on Kavanaugh’s nomination. Good. Baseless smears are no reason to postpone his nomination.

If Feinstein has actual evidence of wrongdoing, she should produce it. Otherwise, she owes Kavanaugh much more than an apology.