Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.) on Thursday lamented what she described as a lack of progress on hearing out victims of sexual misconduct as Brett Kavanaugh and his accuser Christine Blasey Ford prepare to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee on her allegations against him.
“Somehow in the midst of all of this, due process has to be there, but this dismissal still at this decade of these years of just dismissing somebody brings back a lot of memories,” Dingell told Hill.TV’s Krystal Ball and Buck Sexton on “Rising.”
Dingell spoke out about her experiences with sexual misconduct last November during the rise of the “Me Too” movement.
On Thursday she addressed questions surrounding Ford’s allegations, including why she did not come forward until now.
“I think all of the women are very concerned,” she said. “I don’t have one story. I have 50 stories. Some are minor, young people wouldn’t call them minor, and some are some pretty horrible stories.”
“You say, ‘Why didn’t you talk about it, why didn’t you go forward?’ When I was in high school when I was in college if you said anything, you would immediately be labeled,” Dingell said.
“You wouldn’t be believed. You’d become a troublemaker. It would hurt your whole reputation. It just was a very bad time,” she added.
Kavanaugh is facing three sexual misconduct allegations dating back to his time in high school and college.
He has vehemently denied all the allegations and has said he will not withdraw his nomination to the Supreme Court.
Ford accused Kavanaugh of holding her down, groping her and attempting to remove her clothes during a high school party in 1982.
His fellow Yale classmate, Deborah Ramirez, claimed he exposed himself without her consent during another party a few years later.
Attorney Michael Avenatti on Wednesday released the identity of a client accusing Brett Kavanaugh of being present for a “gang rape” of which she was a victim in the 1980s.
— Julia Manchester
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