Jenny Will Put Utah First
September 26, 2018 | Salt Lake City, UT
Contact: Ali Vallarta, (941) 266-2047, [email protected]
Utahns, Federal Candidates Respond to Kavanaugh As Anita Hill Speaks at the University of Utah
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Salt Lake City, UT – This evening, as Senator Orrin Hatch continues to degrade the allegations of – as of now – four women against Brett Kavanaugh, Anita Hill will address an audience of students and members of the public at the University of Utah.
According to the Utah Department of Health, rape is the only violent crime in Utah that occurs at a higher rate than the rest of the nation.
The two candidates for Hatch’s vacant Senate seat could not have had a more different response to the allegations.
Republican candidate and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney has been publicly silent, but for one Tweet on September 16, included below.
At a ticketed town hall event in Bountiful, UT, on September 24, Romney was asked about Kavanaugh’s confirmation and his response is transcribed below:
“I think it’s very unfortunate by the way, that the Democrats have so dramatically changed the process of selecting a Supreme Court nominee that has become – or confirming a Supreme Court nominee – that has become just one more partisan battle. Where a Republican president puts someone up and all the Democrats vote no and all the Republicans vote yes. That’s not the way it’s been in the past and I think that’s a very unfortunate change in the way Washington is working these days.”
Jenny Wilson, Utah’s Democratic Candidate for Senate has been vocal on each of Kavanaugh’s allegations, releasing – most recently – the following statement:
“It is unseemly that Senator Hatch dismissed Dr. Blasey Ford’s account outright (furthermore, contradicting himself from the Clarence Thomas review during which he demanded the FBI investigate).
It takes a lot of courage for a victim of sexual assault to step forward and share their story, especially when it concerns a powerful legal and political figure.
Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, Debrorah Ramirez, Julie Swetnick, and the fourth, still anonymous victim’s allegations are credible and disturbing. I believe that the Senate has a constitutional responsibility to thoroughly vet an appointee to the highest court in our land, and as such should delay their vote until a thorough and unhurried FBI investigation is completed.
I believe the language of the Senate Judiciary Committee Republicans’ initial statement attempted to make a partisan issue of Ms. Ford’s allegation – and they have continued to strike that tone.
Furthermore, it perpetuates the pattern of shaming a victim for the how/why of their process in stepping forward instead of focusing on the allegation itself and the trauma of the abuse. This attitude continues to plague our national dialogue around sexual misconduct.”
The Utah Chapter of the national Women’s March group has already organized a gathering outside of Senator Hatch’s office tomorrow, September 27, at noon, during which a moment of silence will be held for the victims and survivors of sexual assault.
The response of Utahns to Senator Hatch’s behavior since the first allegation of Dr. Christine Blasey Ford has been – at the very least – disappointment.
A group of 6,000 Mormon women (The Mormon Women for Ethical Government) even penned a letter in the Salt Lake Tribune calling on a thorough investigation in to the allegations. “If these accusations are proved false, an investigation will prevent harm to the court’s legitimacy,” they wrote. “If they are true, then Judge Kavanaugh must not be confirmed.”