Speaking Truth to Power - Anita Hill [87]
“If somebody on this committee or their staff had had the honesty and the integrity before the vote to raise this issue and ask for an executive session and say this has to be brought—nobody did, and then somebody on this committee or their staff, and I am outraged by it, leaked that report, an FBI report that we all know should never be disclosed to the public, because of the materials that generally are in them,” Hatch nearly ranted. The fastidious man in the dark suit with the buttoned-down collared shirt who appeared always in control now seemed anything but.
Hatch cleverly presented the sideshow of the leak perhaps in a hope that it would upstage the hearing or the claims I raised. Even more while decrying the leak and disclosure in the press, Senator Hatch himself engaged in leaking by referring to the contents of the statement and the FBI report. Without pointing to anything in particular, the senator talked about discrepancies between the two. Senator Hatch’s strategy was ingenious. He could discredit me by pointing to inconsistencies that may have been nonexistent, negligible, or explicable, claiming he was held from proving his point by the confidentiality of the documents. Senator DeConcini, who also indicated his belief in Thomas’ truthfulness, echoed Senator Hatch’s undefined allegations of inconsistencies.
From my hotel room I watched the proceedings, astounded by the absurdity of it all, yet questioning whether I could begin to be objective. Hatch’s tactics were clearly aimed at bullying the committee and the public into denouncing the claims I raised. Yet I was so shocked and overtaken by feelings of insecurity at the situation in which I found myself that I did not question the spectacle developing. Nor did Ogletree or Jarvis, who watched the opening with me. We just stared in disbelief—even Jarvis, who is never at a loss for words.
Over Senator Hatch’s protest the committee convened to consider how to proceed with the hearing. During the recess Senator Biden’s office contacted me. When the committee readjourned, Chair Biden announced that I had agreed to release my statement to the Senate at the time of my testimony. Though this had always been my understanding, Biden announced it as though it were a new development. Still, Senator Hatch remained unsatisfied, objecting that the FBI report should be open to discussion by the committee, and threatening to resign from the committee if it wasn’t. “To be fair to the nominee,” Hatch argued that the confidential document must be publicly discussed. Indeed, after the hearing adjourned, the FBI report fell into the hands of writer and conservative commentator David Brock. Brock quotes from its text in his book The Real Anita Hill, suggesting that he had access to those sealed documents.
Thus, even the first hour of the first day of the hearing revealed the truth in Biden’s observation: this was to be an “extraordinary proceeding.” Hatch declared aloud what Senator Thurmond had only implied. Order and impartiality were dispensable as the twofold Republican agenda became clear.
Having settled the quarrel about the rules, and then recovered from my family’s disorderly entry, at 11:00 A.M. Senator Biden began his questioning of me. The thirty-minute quizzing period began with general inquiries about my background and professional life. Gradually, the questions became more specific and focused on Thomas’ behavior at Education and EEOC.
“Let’s go back to the first time that you alleged Judge Thomas indicated he had more than a professional interest in you,” Senator Biden approached the subject of harassment in a matter-of-fact way. “Do you recall what the first time was and, with as much precision as you can, what he said to you?”
“It either happened at lunch or it happened in his office when he