The investigator the Senate Judiciary Committee hired to question Christine Ford released her report Sunday -- but you wouldn't know it by watching the news.
The report, authored by veteran sex crimes prosecutor Rachel Mitchell, concluded that Ford's accusation was even "weaker" than a "he said, she said" scenario, as her account of the incident shifted so many times as to call into question her credibility.
This Senate report concluded that "no reasonable prosecutor" would try Ford's case as there were so many inconsistencies in her testimony. Ford, she noted, gave at least five different accounts of when the assault occurred. She variously said it happened in the "mid 1980s," the "early 80s," a "high school summer in early 80s" [though she later struck the word "early" from that version of the story], and finally, "the summer of 1982." She reportedly told her therapist this occurred in her "late teens" but told The Washington Post it occurred when she was 15.
Mitchell further found Ford offering different accounts of when (and what) she told her husband, at least two different versions of the attack itself, and at least five versions of who was in attendance at the event. Ford's memory, Mitchell noted, had at least 10 significant gaps surrounding the incident itself, and also suffered several shorter term gaps related to her coming forward with this story.
Mitchell's report was sober, methodical, factual, and nonpolitical. Yet despite the media's fascination with the accusations being leveled against Kavanaugh, her conclusions are receiving zero coverage in the broadcast news.
On NBC's "TODAY Show," Mitchell's report received zero mentions.
On ABC's "Good Morning America," the report received two sentences of coverage, tacked onto the end of a longer report about the allegations against Kavanaugh. These sentences only mentioned Mitchell's conclusion, not her specific findings.
On "CBS This Morning," it was reported that Saturday Night Live made fun of Mitchell, but the prosecutor's findings went unreported. Although the show did invite on the Democratic activist who accosted Sen. Jeff Flake, Ana Maria Archila, who attacked Mitchell.
On MSNBC, the report's findings have received zero coverage, even as the report itself received four mentions. The report received a brief mention in the 5 AM hour, but its finds went unreported. In the 9 AM hour, Mitchell's report was brought up, but only so its conclusion could be knocked down by Basil Smikle, a Democratic strategist. In the 10 AM hour, Mitchell being made fun of on Saturday Night Live received coverage, but her findings went unreported. On "Morning Joe," the report was mentioned only as a jumping off point for attacking Mitchell (undertaken by former U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade).
On CNN, the reported received a cursory mention in the 2 and 3 AM hour, although merely as a pretext for a guest to argue against its conclusion. In the 4 AM hour, the report received one sentence of coverage, but its actual findings went unreported. In the 9 AM hour, the network's Supreme Court reporter, Ariane de Vogue, reported: "[Mitchell] said no reasonable prosecutor would bring charges. And she actually issued a bottom line: She said, 'A he said/she said case is incredibly difficult to prove, but this case is even weaker than that. Dr. Ford identified other witnesses to the event, and those witnesses either refuted her allegations or failed to corroborate them.'"
De Vogue then immediately followed this up with a much more emphatic rebuttal: "But it’s worth noting that the Democrats and supporters of Ford, they totally dismiss this report. They say that she didn’t even interview Kavanaugh. She was hired. This is just one side of the story. They want the focus on the current FBI background investigation. And we have learned that yesterday the FBI did reach out to one woman, Deborah Ramirez, and Ramirez alleges inappropriate behavior. And here’s what’s key about this. Is that Ramirez gave the FBI the name of other witnesses. And the question will be whether or not the FBI and the White House allow those witnesses to be contacted. That’s where we are now." Finally, in the 2 PM hour, a CNN guest mentioned the report, but did not discuss its findings, nor did anchor Brooke Baldwin. At no point did CNN actually report the contents of Mitchell's findings.
Overall, between NBC, CBS, ABC, MSNBC, and CNN, according to a Grabien analysis, Kavanaugh's confirmation process has received more than 36 hours of coverage since Mitchell's report was released. Over that same time span, the report's findings -- which completely undermine the accusation being taken the most seriously -- received zero coverage.