Getty/university photo Joe DiGenova's vague comments about Christine Blasey Ford and PGA golfers are causing controversy.
As if the Brett Kavanaugh nomination couldn’t get any more bizarre, a prominent guest on Fox News linked Christine Blasey Ford to PGA golfers without explaining what the heck he was talking about. You can watch videos of some of his comments later in this article.
“This is a joke. She (Blasey Ford) is absolutely unreliable as a witness. And tonight all over the country, PGA golf tour members are talking about her,” former prosecutor and Clinton critic Joseph diGenova said on Laura Ingraham’s show on September 20, 2018. He didn’t explain further, but it wasn’t the only PGA/Christine Ford comment he made on the program.
“I can only tell you this. There is more news coming out every day about Dr. Ford,” diGenova claimed on the show. “The Washington Post is doing a biography on her right now. And in the course of doing so, they contacted, at her request, members of the PGA tour. One of whom told the Post, ‘I don’t think you really want to talk to me.'” The comment was not further explained. Profiles on Christine Ford have tended to describe her as an avid surfer but haven’t mentioned golf. However, her father, Ralph Blasey, “was president of the all-male Burning Tree Golf Club in Bethesda,” Politico reported.
A New York Times profile on Blasey Ford reports that, growing up, she “was part of an elite, suburban Washington community, where the families of members of Congress, white-shoe lawyers and lobbyists golfed, played tennis and swam together at a hierarchy of country clubs.”
At the end of the show, diGenova said, “I’m for calling in outside witnesses. I want all the PGA golfers who have anything to say about her brought in to testify.” Ingraham then said, “OK, to go to her character?” He replied, “bring in the PGA golfers to testify about her. … She has put her character at issue. Bring in those golfers! Bring in those golfers!” Ingraham laughed and said, “we’re going to learn more about that, everyone’s wondering, googling LPGA, is it LPGA or PGA?” DiGenova replied, “It’s PGA. It’s the men. Bring in the golfers!”
Then, after Democrat Scott Bolden said there should be an investigation that includes the investigators from the FBI and the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s sex crimes unit, diGenova interrupted, saying, “you’ve got to send for the golfers first!”
You can watch the video here showing part of the exchange.
Here’s video of the another diGenova comment on PGA golfers:
The PGA reference comes after a top conservative lawyer floated a speculative theory on the same night that Christine Ford might have mistaken a Kavanaugh doppelganger for Kavanaugh. Ed Whelan, president of the Ethics and Public Policy Center, named an old high school friend of Kavanaugh’s in a tweet thread based on sheer conjecture, sparking furious criticism online. Ford’s lawyer then denied to NBC News that there was any chance that Ford could have mistaken Kavanaugh for someone else. You can read about that story here.
However, the golf tour comments on Fox caused puzzlement.
Professor Christine Blasey Ford is an accomplished researcher at a California university. Ford has accused Kavanaugh, Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, of attempted sexual assault at a high school party in the 1980s; Kavanaugh adamantly denies the accusations.
Twitter filled with comments from people confused about what diGenova was talking about:
What do Christine Blasey Ford and the PGA have in common?
Most people on Twitter were completely baffled. “What am I missing re pga golfers and Christine Blasey Ford?” wrote one man.
DiGenova didn’t explain. Neither did Ingraham, who simply moved on to another topic after one of his golfing remarks.
Joe diGenova Was a Clinton Critic Who Was Involved in Well-Known Prosecutions
Joseph DiGenova is on the right.
Both diGenova and his wife Victoria Toensing frequently appear on national television programs to bolster Republican causes, and they were especially prolific during the Clinton years and investigations. In 1998, The Washington Post called Toensing and her husband, diGenova, “The Power Couple at Scandal’s Vortex.” The Post described their criticism of the Clintons and wrote that diGenova was a “white-hot media presence, politically connected lawyer and all-around agent provocateur. He and Toensing, also a battle-tested former prosecutor, keep popping up wherever there is trouble — as commentators, as investigators, as unnamed sources for reporters.”
The Post described how Victoria Toensing and diGenova were involved in criticism over Bill Clinton’s affair with Monica Lewinsky. Victoria “Toensing was approached by an intermediary for a Secret Service agent who had supposedly seen something untoward involving President Clinton and the former intern. DiGenova was at the heart of a quickly retracted Dallas Morning News account of that matter,” the Post reported.
Joseph diGenova is the former U.S. Attorney for Washington DC. According to his law firm bio, “He led the prosecution of Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard. He was the Principal Assistant U.S. Attorney during the prosecution of attempted Presidential assassin, John W. Hinckley.”
His law firm bio also says, “For four years, diGenova was United States Attorney, District of Columbia, which is the largest such office, having more than 400 attorneys. He supervised complex Federal criminal and civil matters including international drug smuggling, public corruption, espionage, insider trading, tax fraud, extradition, fraud, RICO, export control and international terrorism. Many of these prosecutions involved negotiations with foreign governments. He conducted a wide-ranging probe of corruption in the D.C. government, which led to the conviction of two deputy mayors.”
The bio continues, “diGenova has extensive experience on Capitol Hill. He was Chief Counsel and Staff Director of the Senate Rules Committee and Counsel to the Senate Judiciary, Governmental Affairs and Select Intelligence Committees. He has conducted confirmation, investigative, legislative and oversight hearings, drafted legislation and testified before both Houses of Congress. He also served as Administrative Assistant and Legislative Director to U.S. Senator Charles Mathias.”
READ NEXT: Read More About Christine Blasey Ford’s Life