While despicable to the nth degree and the dirtiest form of gutter politics, Democrats trotted out an accusation of sexual assault supposedly perpetrated by Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh — and his accuser has come forward. The “last-minute revelation,” which we believe was actually part of a well-orchestrated obstructionist strategy formulated in June by Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), may best be described as evil genius. With Christine Ford, a research professor of psychology in California, now publicly stepping up to own the accusation, Democrats have gone full “Anita Hill” in their effort to block the Kavanaugh nomination.

First, the details of Feinstein’s #MeToo dog whistle are now known. While the allegation against Kavanaugh — from 35 years ago when they were both teenagers — is serious, it’s also quite dubious. Indeed, even the leftist San Francisco Chronicle is questioning the timing of Feinstein’s charade, and it’s presumption of “guilty until proven innocent.” The Chronicle editors note, “Feinstein’s treatment of a more than 3-decade-old sexual assault allegation against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh was unfair all around. It was unfair to Kavanaugh, unfair to his accuser and unfair to Feinstein’s colleagues — Democrats and Republicans alike — on the Senate Judiciary Committee.”

Right from the get-go, Kavanaugh vehemently and categorically denied having engaged in any such misconduct at any time in high school or after. He was supported in his refutation by 65 women who have known Kavanaugh since high school and vouched for him being a man of high character.

Moreover, the details of the allegation appear spurious. The lone corroborative evidence offered by Ford is a 2012 couple’s counseling therapy session. However, the notes from that session do not match Ford’s current story. For example, the number of individuals involved in the alleged assault is different and Kavanaugh’s name does not appear in the session notes. Both of these discrepancies raise red flags about the credibility of the accusation.

Second, political allegiance is a huge factor that must not be overlooked. Ford is a progressive Democrat donor who’s literally invested in stopping any conservative judge from reaching the Supreme Court. Meanwhile, Feinstein and her fellow Democrats sat on this allegation since July, not asking Kavanaugh even one question about it during the three days of hearings, nor during their closed-door questioning. In other words, there is no question that the timing is a politically calculated play by the Democrats.

Finally, Democrats’ calls to immediately halt the confirmation vote on Kavanaugh in order to investigate this allegation undermine the very spirit of the Constitution and the American judicial system. The foundational concept of “innocent until proven guilty” is what has made the U.S. justice system the envy of the world. Democrats are pushing the dangerously flawed concept of assuming guilt based solely on the seriousness of the accusation and then demanding that the accused prove his innocence. Make no mistake, this is an assault on the Constitution — and today is, ironically, Constitution Day.

Unfortunately, with a friendly mainstream media backing them, this dirty political play gives Democrats a win-win scenario. They have now effectively weaponized the #MeToo movement against Kavanaugh in an effort to dupe women voters. Should Republicans go forward with the vote without conceding to Democrat demands for delay and further investigation, they risk the bad publicity of “not listening” to a victim of possible sexual abuse. Democrats will gleefully use that against Republicans in the midterms. If, on the other hand, Republicans cave to Democrat demands and lend legitimacy to an almost certainly phony hit job, they fall into the trap of further drawing out the confirmation vote until possibly after the midterms, which, worst case scenario, has Democrats regaining majority control. And if that were to occur, what’s to stop outgoing Republicans, particularly anti-Trump squishes like Jeff Flake (R-AZ) or Bob Corker (R-TN), from stalling further or even voting against Kavanaugh?

In fact, should the confirmation vote be delayed until after the midterms, and should Democrats win the Senate majority, their argument will naturally be that the Kavanaugh vote must be delayed until the new Senate is seated because “the people have spoken.” That argument alone would buckle the knees of some Republicans, whose concern over getting along with the new Democrat Senate majority would direct their vote.

In the end, this recent play by Democrats has made one thing patently obvious: The Washington swamp is far from drained.

Update: Some reports suggest Kavanaugh’s mother Martha Kavanaugh, formerly a Maryland Circuit Court judge, may have ruled against Ford’s parents in a foreclosure case. This would establish a potential connection to Kavanaugh and a possible reason for bad blood, though initial reports about this connection may not be accurate. We’ll see what shakes loose.

Secondly, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) blasted Feinstein over her withholding of Ford’s allegation of abuse from the committee for six weeks. He further noted that Feinstein has still refused to cooperate with the committee, stating, “The standard procedure for updates to any nominee’s background investigation file is to conduct separate follow-up calls with relevant parties. In this case, that would entail phone calls with at least Judge Kavanaugh and Dr. Ford. I asked Senator Feinstein’s office yesterday to join me in scheduling these follow-ups. Thus far, they have refused. But as a necessary step in evaluating these claims, I’ll continue working to set them up.”