Two of the alleged signatories of a statement released expressing support for Judge Brett Kavanaugh by current and former members of the Harvard Black Law Students Association (BLSA) state that they have not endorsed the use of their names on or agreed to sign the letter.
Adrian Perkins ’18 states that he “did not authorize the use of [his] name” on the statement. The letter was released in the midst of Perkins’ ongoing mayoral campaign in Shreveport, Louisiana. He has spoken to the Shreveport Times to further elaborate that he wrote a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee denying his involvement in the letter, also revealing that “several of the other past presidents who are listed in that letter have also confirmed their names were listed without their consent.”
Brett Johnson ’18, also one of the alleged signatories, explains that he “was under the impression that the final language of the statement would be passed along for [his] review before it was published and the subject of statement would not extend beyond discussion of the event in question”, and that his agreement to support a statement was limited to objective confirmation of the event between Judge Kavanaugh and the Harvard BLSA having taken place.
The original statement, dated August 29th, has eight alleged signatories, seven of whom had recently graduated from Harvard Law School when the statement was released. The statement is addressed to members of the Committee on the Judiciary, and calls out Judge Kavanaugh’s ‘graciously offer[ing] his time’ and ‘mentor[ing] numerous Harvard students’, concluding by ‘express[ing] appreciation’.
Other Harvard BLSA alumni have also vocalized their outrage to the way the statement was handled and presented. Cameron Clark ’18 took to Twitter to criticize Republican Senator Mike Crapo’s submission of the letter for Judge Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearing as being on behalf of the Harvard BLSA. He writes:
Here’s letter erroneously sent on behalf of @HarvardBLSA during the #KavanaughHearings. It is clear that neither @MikeCrapo nor his aides read the letter before submitting it for the record.
If they had, it’d be clear that “this letter is not a statement from BLSA.”@CNN @MSNBC pic.twitter.com/ZG9yZtwiUa
— Cameron Clark, J.D. (@negroesquire) September 6, 2018
He also calls out to all parties involved, including the Harvard BLSA.
I demand more of the #KavanaughHearings, of @BrettKavanaugh, of @MikeCrapo, even of @CoryBooker and @HarvardBLSA. Scrutinize Judge Kavanaugh’s record with fervor; expose and punish attempts to ascribe the support of few to an organization of many.
Do better. pic.twitter.com/b2qBLXmLGq
— Cameron Clark, J.D. (@negroesquire) September 6, 2018
The alleged signatories’ reactions to the statement call into question ‘the support of [the] few’.