Legal scholar apologizes for 'appalling' suggestion that Kavanaugh's classmate assaulted his accuser
- Ed Whelan, the president of the Ethics and Public Policy Center, has apologized for his "appalling and inexcusable" Twitter thread that suggested Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh's classmate may have sexually assaulted Christine Blasey Ford.
- In a series of tweets on Thursday, Whelan examined Ford's story and attempted to pinpoint the party where she alleges Kavanaugh assaulted her and suggested a classmate that resembled Kavanaugh assaulted her instead.
- Whelan, a prominent legal commentator, apologized for his "appalling and inexcusable mistake of judgment" on Twitter Friday morning.
Ed Whelan, the president of the Ethics and Public Policy Center, has apologized for his "appalling and inexcusable" Twitter thread that suggested Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh's classmate may have sexually assaulted Christine Blasey Ford at a 1980s high school party, and not Kavanaugh.
In a series of tweets on Thursday, Whelan, a prominent legal commentator, examined Ford's story and attempted to pinpoint the party where she alleges Kavanaugh assualted her.
In the now-deleted tweets, Whelan identified Kavanaugh's classmate as living in the house where he suspected the event took place, and said that because the classmate resembled Kavanaugh, Ford could have mistakenly blamed the wrong guy.
Whelan later tweeted that Democratic Sen. Diane Feinstein of California would soon apologize to Kavanaugh after exonerating information came to light.
Following Whelan's tweets, Ford told the Washington Post there was no chance of such a mistake taking place.
"There is zero chance that I would confuse them," she said in a statement to The Post.
By Friday, Whelan repented.
"I made an appalling and inexcusable mistake of judgment in posting the tweet thread in a way that identified Kavanaugh's Georgetown Prep classmate. I take full responsibility for that mistake, and I deeply apologize for it. I realize that does not undo the mistake," Whelan tweeted.
But "Fox & Friends," the conservative-leaning morning show that's a favorite of President Donald Trump, had already ran with the story on a discussion on Friday.
Several right wing activists and pundits had already floated other theories aiming to discredit Ford's claims. Kavanaugh's school, Georgetown Prep, and Ford's school, Holton-Arms, have been thrust into the spotlight as former classmates have jumped to the defense of either party.
Ford is currently in talks to testify to the Senate Judiciary Committee about her claims.
On Friday, Trump came to Kavanaugh's defense without mentioning Whelan's debunked theory.
"Judge Brett Kavanaugh is a fine man, with an impeccable reputation, who is under assault by radical left wing politicians who don't want to know the answers, they just want to destroy and delay. Facts don't matter. I go through this with them every single day in D.C.," Trump tweeted.