“I would think an F.B.I. investigation would be warranted,” she said, acknowledging that she too was inebriated during the party and that there are gaps in her memory.

The article offers disturbing details about the alleged event at Yale, and about the alcohol-soaked backdrop of Ivy League and prep-school party culture when Kavanaugh was a student in the 1980s. But tucked into the New Yorker article is one particularly appalling revelation that speaks less to the character of the Supreme Court nominee himself than to that of the Republicans who continued to press his case:

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The offices of at least four Democratic senators have received information about the allegation, and at least two have begun investigating it. Senior Republican staffers also learned of the allegation last week and, in conversations with The New Yorker, expressed concern about its potential impact on Kavanaugh’s nomination. Soon after, Senate Republicans issued renewed calls to accelerate the timing of a committee vote. [Emphasis mine.]

Ah. We had wondered what the hurry was, and now it all makes sense. It turns out that Graham and other in-the-know Republicans were likely in a rush because they were hoping to get out ahead of a second female accuser, to ram through a confirmation vote before any new potential roadblocks could be brought to light. It was “imperative.”

They “expressed concern” — not about the truth of the allegation, or the impact such an incident might have had on the accuser, or whether it sheds light on the existing allegations made by research psychologist Christine Blasey Ford. No, they were concerned about the potential impact on Kavanaugh’s nomination — and whether it would hamper their ability to install their favored candidate in a lifelong appointment, where his decisions could affect the lives of millions.

If you wondered whether senior Republicans wanted to find out the truth about their nominee or the allegations levied against him — by Ford, by Ramirez or in any other case — you have your answer.

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If you assumed that these Republicans cared about character, or that the concerns of women matter to them in any way, it’s time to revise that assumption.

If you held out hope that Kavanaugh’s advocates would set aside their partisan aims in favor of country, justice or even preserving the legitimacy of the nation’s highest court, it should be extinguished.