Tiffany Bond lashes out at U.S. House hopefuls who fail to speak out for women

For independent congressional candidate Tiffany Bond, there’s no way Brett Kavanaugh should be considered for the Supreme Court.

“This man does not appear to have the temperament necessary” to serve on the court, the Portland lawyer said.

She said, though, the issue is much larger than whether President Donald Trump’s nominee ought to secure a lifetime appointment to the nation’s highest court.

Recalling that she had been “pawed and groped” repeatedly during her student days, she said, “I, like pretty much every woman on the planet, have experienced sexual assault.”

Because women are routinely “treated like crap” by men, she expressed dismay that the three men she faces in the congressional race have said so little on the issue throughout the campaign.

She said that “ignoring pervasive assault culture” for more than half the people in Maine makes them unfit for office.

Three of the four contenders for Maine’s 2nd District seat in the Nov. 6 election responded to a request for comment about the explosive Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Capitol Hill on Thursday that featured testimony from Christine Blasey Ford and Kavanaugh, whom Ford accused of attempted rape when they were both in high school.

Democrat Jared Golden insisted that “a full investigation is warranted” into her allegations, both to provide the Senate with information and “to help provide a just and fair process to both Dr. Ford and Judge Kavanaugh.”

“Accusations of sexual assault must be taken seriously,” Golden said. “For too long victims of sexual assault and harassment have gone unheard, and allegations such as Dr. Ford’s should never be taken lightly.”

The man both Bond and Golden hope to replace in the U.S. House, two-term Republican Bruce Poliquin, also spoke out after the hearing ended Thursday.

“It’s unfortunate that hearings of this importance have become so politicized,” Poliquin said. He said he trusts senators “will take today’s testimony from the witnesses into account, and, importantly, the written testimony from those said to be present regarding these allegations, as they make their decision.”

Bond said Ford appeared “pretty credible” in her testimony and expressed dismay that Republicans who control the U.S. Senate are applying “a different standard” for their nominee than they would for a Democratic one.

The bottom line for Bond, though, is that she wouldn’t back any nominee for the court offered by President Donald Trump because, she said, he is under investigation and shouldn’t be able to pick a judge who might someday hear his own case.

The U.S. House plays no direct role in deciding who sits on the Supreme Court. The court’s nine justices are nominated by the president and confirmed by the U.S. Senate.

But House members have often weighed in over the years about issues that arise involving the court and those chosen for lifetime services on its bench. U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree, a 1st District Democrat, called for a delay in the Kavanaugh nomination until the FBI could investigate allegations against him.

Kavanaugh was tapped by Trump to replace Anthony Kennedy, a longtime justice who retired in July. Because Kennedy was often a swing vote in the closely divided court, interest in his successor has been especially keen since he has the potential to shift the court’s decisions on a number of key legal questions.

Kavanaugh has been under fire in recent days after allegations of sexual misconduct in his younger days, especially an alleged rape attempt in Maryland in 1982 that was the focus of a hearing Thursday by the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Ford told senators that she is “100 percent” sure that a drunken Kavanaugh tried to rape her when she was 15 and he was entering his senior year at Georgetown Prep, a private high school in the nation’s capital.

Kavanaugh heatedly denied any wrongdoing. He said the confirmation process “has become a national disgrace” and accused opponents of turning the constitutional “advise and consent” function of Congress into a “search and destroy” mission.

U.S. Sen. Angus King, a Maine independent, said on Twitter on Thursday that he “was moved by Dr. Ford’s courageous and credible testimony, and believe more than ever that we should not vote on Judge Kavanaugh’s nomination without a full investigation of her allegations.”

“It’s still not too late; there is no deadline to this process,” he said. “This is a lifetime appointment to the highest court in the land – it’s too important to rush. On something this important, I’d rather get it right than get it fast.”

One of his opponents, educator Zak Ringelstein, called Ford “inspiringly brave” in a Twitter statement. He also called for the FBI to investigate Ford’s charges.

U.S. Sen Susan Collins, a Maine Republican, is one of a few senators who have not declared whether or not Kavanaugh will get their vote. Her decision may prove critical in whether or not Trump’s nominee winds up on the court.

scollins@sunjournal.com