'What Happens at Georgetown Prep…' Line Didn't Appear in Transcript of Kavanaugh Speech Given to Congress 

After allegations that Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh attempted to rape Christine Blasey Ford at a party they attended when they were both in high school, a few specific quotes from the judge’s past have taken on new significance. One of those statements was made in 2015, when Kavanaugh gave a speech at the Catholic University law school.

In the speech, he described some of his high school friends and their time at Georgetown Prep together.

“Three classmates of mine at Georgetown Prep were graduates of this law school in 1990 and are really, really good friends of mine: Mike Bidwill, Don Urgo, and Phil Merkle. And they were good friends of mine then and are still good friends of mine as recently as this weekend, when we were all on email together. But fortunately we had a good saying that we’ve held firm to to this day, as the dean was reminding me before the talk, which is, ‘What happens at Georgetown Prep stays at Georgetown Prep.’ That’s been a good thing for all of us, I think.”

Many reporters pointed to the “What happens at Georgetown Prep stays at Georgetown Prep,” line as significant in light of Ford’s accusations. Now, The Young Turks has learned that the line was omitted from the version of the speech’s transcript given to the Senate Judiciary Committee.

The same section of the speech in the transcript, which appears in the form of an essay, reads:

“I attended Mater Dei and Georgetown Prep. Georgetown Prep’s motto was to be ‘men for others.’ I have tried to live that creed. I am proud to say that three Georgetown Prep classmates of mine—Mike Bidwill, Don Urgo, and Phil Merkle—happen to be 1990 graduates of this law school. They remain very good friends of mine, and they well reflect the values and excellence of both Georgetown Prep and this law school.”

This version of the speech was printed in the Spring 2016 issue of the Catholic University Law Review. It is otherwise the same speech he gave at the school in 2015, including his opening remarks thanking the school’s dean for introducing him. “It’s not clear why the transcript differs from Kavanaugh’s remarks as he delivered them, or whether the transcript was generated by Kavanaugh or the school,” The Young Turks writes.

Thee discrepancy isn’t necessarily intentional—it is obviously possible that the transcript was submitted because that was the most accessible form of the speech. But it’s notable that the line, and the larger implication about Kavanaugh’s behavior during school, was removed from the speech when it was originally transcribed by either Kavanaugh or someone at the school.

Kavanaugh is scheduled to testify again in front of Congress on Monday about the allegations. It’s still uncertain whether Ford will testify as well.