There are certain protections put into place by the Constitution and the laws of the land for those accused of crimes. One important protection is that the accused goes last. The defense presents their case last and makes the final argument. That’s how things work in the United States of America.
While Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh is not on trial and has not been charged with a crime, he is definitely facing the court of public opinion as well as the Senate Judiciary Committee over claims by Christine Blasey Ford that he sexually assaulted her over three decades ago. There’s nothing that states his testimony must follow Ford’s, but it definitely should. He’s the one being accused. His fate is the one in question. His past is the one being challenged.
Ford’s legal team has set three terms they want met before she’ll sit before the Senate Judiciary Committee. She wants only the Senators to question her – no lawyers or aides. She doesn’t want Kavanaugh in the room when she testifies. Lastly, Kavanaugh should be questioned before her.
The first two stipulations are reasonable and even logical. If she is indeed a victim, she won’t want to badgered by a female aide or attorney and she probably never wants to be in the same room as Kavanaugh again. If she, her legal team, and/or Democratic leadership are using this accusation for purely political reasons, these first two stipulations also make sense. It’s better for optics if she’s questioned by powerful men and they want the cameras on her, not on Kavanaugh’s reactions to her testimony.
It’s the last stipulation that makes this seem totally political. There is no reasonable explanation outside of political manipulation for her to only testify after Kavanaugh goes first. If she’s telling the truth, her testimony wouldn’t change whether he goes before or after her. In the scenario where she truly is a victim of Kavanaugh, having him testify first is unorthodox, unnecessary, and unreasonable.
If, on the other hand, this is all being positioned for political maneuvering, it absolutely makes sense that the Democrats want her to speak last. In sales, negotiations, poker, and political manipulations, the party that goes first is at a disadvantage. They are forced to speculate rather than respond. This is why in court, the accused goes last. They must hear the evidence and claims against them in order to defend themselves.
Kavanaugh is the accused. He must be allowed to hear the accusations directly from the accuser before testifying in his own defense. The fact that Ford’s corner seems adamant about doing it all backwards is, to me, a very concerning indicator that this has nothing to do with the truth and everything to do with stopping Kavanaugh’s confirmation for purely political reasons.
For more of the backstory: