Ed Whelan needed an editor.

The president of the Ethics and Public Policy Center just published a Twitter thread alleging that Brett Kavanaugh was a victim of mistaken identity. President Trump’s Supreme Court nominee didn’t attempt to sexually assault professor Christine Blasey Ford at a party when the two were in high school, Whelan wrote online. Kavanaugh was not at the party, he added, but a classmate who looked a lot like Kavanaugh was there.

The theory is interesting, and for the first time advances a concrete defense of Kavanaugh. But the thread is drawing attention mostly because Whelan decided to name Kavanaugh's doppelganger, and to include a recent picture.

What does Whelan offer as proof? Blueprints of the house where the incident happened, Google maps of the location, and a side-by-side yearbook picture showing that Kavanaugh and his classmate were guilty of the same, very bad, 1980s haircut. But probable cause satisfactory to name this guy in a story of alleged attempted rape? Whelan's pretty far from that threshold.

In a court of law, Whelan's theory about an alternate culprit would be perfectly appropriate. If there's a second person who might have committed the crime, then it creates doubt about the defendant's guilt. But when you're writing outside a courtroom, you need to be a little more careful, lest you be sued. Journalistic principles would dictate double-checking, seeking multiple sources, and reaching out for comment at the very least. So far, he's given no sign that he did any of these things.

Whelan wrote that “to be clear, I have no idea what, if anything, did or did not happen in that bedroom at the top of the stairs, and I therefore do not state, imply or insinuate that [Kavanaugh's classmate] or anyone else committed the sexual assault that Ford alleges.” Twitter denizens aren't buying that excuse, and some are joking that Whelan's lucky to have his connections to the legal world, because he'll need a lawyer.

Judging by Twitter, Whelan just brought the media and Beltway wolves on himself. One day, this former Georgetown Prep classmate of Kavanaugh was minding his own business. The next, he becomes an accused potential sexual assailant without, as far as we know now, an opportunity to defend his name.