In 1991, Clarence Thomas was appointed as nominee as a justice for the Supreme Court of the United States by President George Bush. Shortly after Thomas' nomination moved to the Senate floor, however, a law professor at the University of Oklahoma by the name of Anita Hill came forward and accused Thomas of sexual assault years ago when the two had worked together.

History tends to repeat its self, and 27 years later we find ourselves in a nearly identical situation as Dr. Christine Blasey Ford has accused Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault. We like to think that our society continually improves as time goes on. However, as we've now seen in the case of Blasey Ford, time has moved in a flat circle.

At the time of writing, three different women have come forward and accused Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct to varying degrees. However, Ford's original accusation has brought the most attention, and unfortunately the most backlash.

I'll be the first to admit, I was originally somewhat impressed with President Trump's first statement when the accusation was brought to the forefront.

We want to go through this process and give everybody a chance to say what they have to say .

However, he also made mention that the knowledge should have been brought forth sooner. Senator Feinstein of California had received a letter from Dr. Ford shortly after Kavanuagh was on the list of potential nominees publicized by Trump. The New York Times explains the circumstances in which Ford and Feinstein chose to withhold the information in an episode of their podcast "The Accusation Against Brett Kavanaugh" but the bottom line is survivors have a right to decide how their stories are made public.

On a similar thread, there's a suggestive attitude surrounding the allegation that has insinuated that Ford released this information in an attempt to gain something (fame or notoriety) or that she's simply bringing all this to light to ruin Judge Kavanaugh's career and life. Since coming public with her allegations, Ford received multiple death threats and was forced to move her family out of their home.

There's also a resounding amount of ignorance about both the nature of sexual assault and the mentality of the survivors after their victimization. Many people have criticized Ford for not reporting the assault the year it happened. According to the National Sexual Violence Resource Center, rape is the most under reported crime in the United States with 63% of rapes going unreported. It's extremely difficult for victims to recount their assaults and often times, their cases are botched or not believed by the police.

The Hearing

Finally, on September 27th, Judge Kavanaugh and Dr. Blasey Ford testified before the Senate after a few deliberations and changes of schedule. It felt as if the entire world was watching and if I'm being completely honest, it felt as if there was a shift in the dynamic of the entire incident.

To start, I think it's worth mentioning the nature of the responses provided by both Ford and Kavanaugh. On multiple occasions, Kavanaugh was angry, yelling and just downright rude to questioning Senators whereas Ford came across as much more cooperative which I understand is somewhat reflective of the nature of the hearing. However, I want to focus in on the idea of cooperation. According an analysis by Vox, Ford made an effort to answer every question posed by the Senate while Kavanaugh continuously dodged certain questions, most notably if he had ever been so drunk that he had blacked out.

There was a pivotal moment that happened during a recess involving Senator Jeff Flake and a group of women who came to the Senate to protest. The women, many of which were survivors of sexual assault themselves, confronted Senator Flake in an elevator. They then expressed their concerns regarding the consequences of potentially letting a sexual abuser on the Supreme Court and what that could mean for American women.

Following that altercation, Senator Flake called for an FBI investigation into the accusations while simultaneously voting to move the nomination along. It's a win-win scenario for Flake but the FBI could potentially bring us some of the answers we've been looking for. While the scope of the investigation is unclear, the background check will have to be done within a week of the order from President Trump. Mark Judge, a friend of Kavanaugh's who was reportedly in the room when the alleged assault took place, has agreed to cooperate with the investigation alongside other key witnesses.

James Comey, former director of the FBI, is confident that the FBI can get the job done. In an Op-Ed in the New York Times, Comey highlights the high-level investigative skills of the bureau but the process in which they would go about conducting an investigation of this nature. In his eyes, the FBI has enough resources and agents to make it happen, and he would know of all people.

This investigation, however, may not produce any conclusions or answers. In that case, it's simply served as a week-long deliberation from Senators having to make some tough decisions. Hopefully it at least brings most of the allegation out of the gray zone and into some greater certainty, but that's rarely the case. All we can do at this point is wait and see.