By Elise Viebeck Elise Viebeck Enterprise and investigations reporter focused on politics Email Bio Follow April 26 at 6:00 AM About 90 minutes into Anita Hill’s testimony on Oct. 11, 1991, Joe Biden had a choice to make.
But for decades, Democrats have been angered by Hill’s treatment by the GOP and conflicted about Biden’s performance as chairman. The issue has even more resonance for some Democrats now in the wake of allegations of sexual assault against then-Supreme Court nominee Brett M. Kavanaugh last year, which led to a similar hearing. Both he and Thomas denied wrongdoing.
“I still don’t think [Biden’s response] takes ownership of his role in what happened,” she told The Post in a 2017 interview. The former Biden lawyer, Cynthia Hogan, said in an interview that he approached his role during the Thomas hearings as if he were a neutral arbiter. Allegations emerge Biden was 48 in 1991, a fourth-term Democratic senator known for his political moderation and what some former Senate aides described as a preoccupation with being liked by members of both parties. As the author of the bill that would become the Violence Against Women Act of 1994, he prided himself on his sensitivity toward women who had been mistreated and used his chairmanship to advocate for their interests.
Hill, then a 35-year-old law professor in Oklahoma, was approached by Democratic Senate staffers and told them about her experiences with Thomas, with the understanding that she would remain anonymous. But Biden’s staff told her that they could not circulate her allegations to members of the Judiciary Committee unless they were shared with Thomas, along with her name.
The day of the committee vote, according to multiple accounts, Biden told Thomas that he would oppose him for ideological reasons but promised to send the nomination to the Senate floor, where it appeared Thomas would be confirmed. Biden said later that during the conversation, he assured Thomas that he would be treated fairly if Hill’s allegations were reported in the press.
Biden was concerned that any attention on Hill would raise concerns about how he had handled her case. From his point of view, the FBI had investigated, and he had made its final report available to members of his committee. He had followed the rules.
Who cares?
But, hey let’s keep dragging it up without any intention of fixing it.
As everyone knows, even if some are still unwilling to admit, it was a high-tech lynching intended to use groundless, even absurd claims to keep a black conservative off the Supreme Court.
Of course it was unfair. Biden promised Clarence Thomas that Hill's unfounded claims would not be released. Shortly thereafter, they leaked.
BIDEN IS PART OF THE SWAMP. HE WILL SAY ANYTHING. EVERYONE KNOWS THE FOOL IS CORRUPT. THE GUY IS JUST LIKE ANTHONY WEINER
To Clarence Thomas? Agreed. lynching
A typical dishonest democrat
where is the investigation about this 1 ?
How convenient that now as he runs for President.....years later...he’s somehow..Woke! Liar Fraud
The operative WaPo words being 'Even he.' LOL
And a good reason to write laws to be able to remove Justices in the future. Political Lifetime appointments without review are bad for everyone
Yeah... to Justice Thomas.
Thread Joe2020 JoeBiden AnitaHill explained in depth. Election2020 VoteBlue 🌊 by kurteichenwald
I thought ..' Democracy Dies in Darkness ' Focus on THIS century.
He mistreated a Black woman...in public.
No doubt it was wrong. So many levels awful. We do the best with what we have at the time and we hopefully learn from when we failed. This is a scar. Always love to Anita Hill she was amazing.
JoeBiden needs to stop apologizing for not being 'left' enough just so he can pander for votes. This is so sad that a former VP has to sink so low. Get off of your knees Joe.
Too late Hair-Plugs! Past sins are unforgivable in today’s Marxist Left!
Joe's going to be the Trump hating Republican choice. Don't beat him up too much. We need as many reds as we can get.
Too bad he doesnt mean it and it was just a virtue signal..hey look I'm woke I apologized so u cant use it later
So Biden’s excuse here for why he “couldn’t” give Anita Hill a fair opportunity to be heard is that he was out-maneuvered by Republicans back in 1991, when they were just getting started? Yet he thinks we should choose him to go against Trump, the master of amoral maneuvering?
CreepyUncleJoe SlowJoe
She lied.
Well, his stating Trump called White Supremacists “good people” wasn’t fair or accurate either but you didn’t have the guts to point that out.
'We do the best we can with what we know, and when we know better we do better.'--Maya Angelou Unlike this president, who doesn't seem to change, grow, most people like Joe Biden do. Keeping that in mind, it's smarter to judge a candidate's present behavior; not their past..
You could do it again, and after that remove Clarence Thomas from the Supreme Court as unfit for the office
Leadership.
JoSantisteban 24 years ago was a different time. Who, among us, haven't changed substantially over the years? We grow as time goes on. I would guess most of us could be considered different people entirely.
NoJoe2020 ‘s apology to Anita Hill: I’m sorry that happened to you. 🙄🙄🙄
Yet somehow he waited until the week before he announced his candidacy to apologize. Right.
In the words of Stacey Abrams, We can't let perfection be the litmus test.
Oh here we f’ing go lol Better hurry up and get out in front of this to defend your man,
Biden has been wrong about most things.
Joe Biden - “Like me good friend and colleague Ted Kennedy used to say: ‘I’ll drive off of that bridge when I come to it.’ .....Amen brother..... Amen.” 😏
Then why isn't he in prison?
oh man if only he could've done something about it! he didn't know any better, he was only in his fifties at the time...
He also authored the criminalization act of 94 🤔
Biden said the Anita Hill hearing wasn’t fair while pretending that he didn’t orchestrate it.
Do a story on the Central Park 5 and how Trump called for violence (I mean while you guys are bringing up old crap).
I remember this even as a kid everyone saying how fucked up it was. GOP wrecked the court.
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