A story has hit social media alleging that Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s mother, Judge Martha Gamble Kavanaugh, ruled against the parents of his accuser in a foreclosure case, thus launching an intergenerational family feud. Pro-Kavanaugh sources are claiming that this is the reasoning behind the accusations of sexual assault against the Supreme Court nominee by a woman who knew him back in high school in the early ’80s.
Snopes is calling foul on the suggestion that Dr. Christine Blasey Ford is making accusations against Brett Kavanaugh as part of a revenge plot for something his mother allegedly did to her parents two decades ago in a civil court.
“Right-wing websites concocted a cynical (and grossly inaccurate) conspiracy theory about a woman who has accused Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault.”
Several sites are saying that Judge Martha Gamble Kavanaugh ruled on the case that caused the Blasey family to lose their home as a result of foreclosure, and it is suspect that Dr. Christine Blasey Ford did not reveal this bit of information when she accused the Supreme Court nominee of sexual assault back in 1982.
But while these articles online make the whole matter sound very suspicious, there was some critical information left out of the history between the Blasey and the Kavanaugh families.
#Snopes debunks theory that Christine Ford wants revenge over a ruling by Brett Kavanaugh’s mother against her parents.
Judge Martha Kavanaugh “ruled favorably toward the Blaseys, who ended up keeping their home.” https://t.co/0nwkBhQiDa @Beyerstein @rtraister #BrettKavanaugh
— Eric J (@EricJafMN) September 18, 2018
Snopes confirmed that Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s mother Martha did preside over the civil case that decided whether or not Ralph and Paula Blasey could maintain ownership of their home in Potomac, Maryland, in Montgomery County just outside of Washington, D.C.
But they also discovered that many of the online sources missed certain critical facts.
“Martha Kavanaugh did preside for certain parts of a 1996 foreclosure case involving Ralph and Paula Blasey, who are indeed Christine Blasey Ford’s parents. However, Kavanaugh actually ruled favorably toward the Blaseys, who ended up keeping their home. These two facts cause the logic of the conspiracy theory, such as it ever was, to collapse.”
The story about a foreclosure and revenge leading to sexual assault allegations falls apart without a foreclosure, and without the elder Judge Kavanaugh ruling against the parents of Brett Kavanaugh’s accuser.
Judge Martha Kavanaugh actually went a step further siding with the Blaseys by dismissing the foreclosure proceedings “with prejudice” which meant that the plaintiff could not come back for another bite of the proverbial apple.
To this day, Dr. Christine Blasey Ford’s parents still retain ownership of the house in Potomac, Maryland.