EDITORIAL: Get to the bottom of sexual assault accusation against Kavanaugh

Leave it to obnoxious behavior by a Trump to make it clear why a woman who has accused Judge Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault decades ago must be heard now.

No sooner did Christine Blasey Ford come forward than Donald Trump Jr., a chip off the old block, posted an Instagram mocking her. He posted a photo on Monday of a note with fake childish handwriting that read: “Hi Cindy, will you be my girlfriend,” followed by boxes marked “yes” and “no.” The note was signed, “Love, Bret.”

It has already begun. A woman has made an allegation of assault back in high school that will be difficult, but necessary, for Americans to assess. The moment calls for sensitivity. Yet the Trump White House, in the figure of Donald Jr., wasted no time in trashing the woman. Other rip artists are sure to follow.

The Senate Judiciary Committee was scheduled to vote Thursday on Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court, but that’s not going to happen now. Even President Trump on Monday said he could accept a delay.

There is no alternative. Blasey, the name she goes by professionally, deserves a fair and public hearing. Kavanaugh does, too.

Getting at the truth may be impossible, some 36 years after the fact, but the committee has to try. Blasey’s reputation, already besmirched by the president’s sniggering son, is on the line. Kavanaugh’s reputation — of the utmost importance to the integrity of the court — is on the line, too.

Kavanaugh and Blasey should testify under oath. Kavanaugh’s high school friend, Mark Judge, whom Blasey says witnessed the assault, should testify, too. Judge insists nothing happened.

Until all this happens, it’s premature to say how much weight Blasey’s accusation should carry with the Judiciary Committee when it ultimately votes on Kavanaugh’s nomination.

The timing of Blasey’s accusation is fishy, no doubt. In late July, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., received a letter in which Blasey, a professor of psychology at Palo Alto University, made the accusation against Kavanaugh. Feinstein held on to the letter until Sept. 12, when she passed it along to the FBI.

Feinstein claims she was only trying to protect Blasey’s anonymity.

If you find that hard to believe, so do we. The fact remains that Blasey made the accusation — and has put her name to it. Her husband and a therapist also reportedly claim that she told them of the assault — and of the trauma it caused her — years ago.

Senate Republicans — the same folks who refused for more than nine months in 2016 to confirm Judge Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court — are pretty upset that Kavanaugh’s confirmation might be delayed, even if only for days or weeks.

Blocking Garland’s confirmation was about politics.

Delaying Kavanaugh’s confirmation — or even killing it — is about doing the job right.

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