September 30, 2018

Kellyanne Conway Just Said “I’m a Victim of Sexual Assault”

But “you have to be responsible for your own conduct.” 

Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway appeared on CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday morning to discuss this week’s Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Dr. Christine Blasey Ford’s accusations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. During the discussion with host Jake Tapper, Conway emphasized that the hearings were not a criminal trial or “a meeting of the #MeToo movement.”

She also revealed that she herself has been a victim of sexual assault.

“I feel very empathetic, frankly, for victims of sexual assault and sexual harassment and rape. I’m a victim of sexual assault,” she said. But then added, “I don’t expect Judge Kavanaugh, or Jake Tapper, or Jeff Flake, or anybody to be held responsible for that. You have to be responsible for your own conduct.” 

Conway noted that media comparisons to Bill Cosby, who last week was sentenced to between three and 10 years in prison for sexual assault, are unfair. Tapper responded by saying he was sorry she had to go through an assault. He also tried to ask her about working for a president who has been accused of sexual assault himself. Conway told Tapper not to conflate the two, adding, “I work for Trump because he’s so good to the women who work for him, and he’s so good to the women of this country.”

She also called this week’s hearings a “sham” and “raw partisan politics,” and said she doesn’t expect any of the Democrats on the committee that questioned Ford and Kavanaugh to change their vote following the FBI investigation of Ford’s allegations. That limited investigation is taking place because Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) revealed Friday he would not vote for Kavanaugh’s confirmation to the high court until after such a probe is completed.

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WHO DOESN’T LOVE A POSITIVE STORY—OR TWO?

“Great journalism really does make a difference in this world: it can even save kids.”

That’s what a civil rights lawyer wrote to Julia Lurie, the day after her major investigation into a psychiatric hospital chain that uses foster children as “cash cows” published, letting her know he was using her findings that same day in a hearing to keep a child out of one of the facilities we investigated.

That’s awesome. As is the fact that Julia, who spent a full year reporting this challenging story, promptly heard from a Senate committee that will use her work in their own investigation of Universal Health Services. There’s no doubt her revelations will continue to have a big impact in the months and years to come.

Like another story about Mother Jones’ real-world impact.

This one, a multiyear investigation, published in 2021, exposed conditions in sugar work camps in the Dominican Republic owned by Central Romana—the conglomerate behind brands like C&H and Domino, whose product ends up in our Hershey bars and other sweets. A year ago, the Biden administration banned sugar imports from Central Romana. And just recently, we learned of a previously undisclosed investigation from the Department of Homeland Security, looking into working conditions at Central Romana. How big of a deal is this?

“This could be the first time a corporation would be held criminally liable for forced labor in their own supply chains,” according to a retired special agent we talked to.

Wow.

And it is only because Mother Jones is funded primarily by donations from readers that we can mount ambitious, yearlong—or more—investigations like these two stories that are making waves.

About that: It’s unfathomably hard in the news business right now, and we came up about $28,000 short during our recent fall fundraising campaign. We simply have to make that up soon to avoid falling further behind than can be made up for, or needing to somehow trim $1 million from our budget, like happened last year.

If you can, please support the reporting you get from Mother Jones—that exists to make a difference, not a profit—with a donation of any amount today. We need more donations than normal to come in from this specific blurb to help close our funding gap before it gets any bigger.

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