Kudos to columnist E.J. Dionne (The ugly attacks on Christine Blasey Ford…) for chastising legal scholar Ed Whelan, who tried to pin Judge Kavanaugh’s alleged boorish behavior on an innocent man.

I watched Whelan’s shenanigans first-hand when he targeted then-UC Berkeley law professor Goodwin Liu. Liu –widely admired for his decency, open-mindedness and intellect—was nominated by President Obama in 2010 to serve on the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. But Whelan staged a full-frontal attack against Liu’s legal acumen. It was political hucksterism at its finest under the guise of conservative values.

The blatant misinformation campaign prompted Richard Painter, the chief ethics lawyer for President George W. Bush, to rebuke it. Painter described Liu as a man guided by integrity rather than political expediency … a moderate liberal … open to ideas championed by libertarians and conservatives.

Painter—an eyewitness to the confirmation fights over Justices Roberts and Alito—was keenly aware of the politics behind the Liu attacks:

Indeed, much of this may have nothing to do with Liu but rather with politicians and interest groups jostling for position in the impending battle over the president’s next nominee to the Supreme Court, Painter wrote.

It was a prescient comment. Obama’s last nominee to the Supreme Court – Judge Merrick Garland – never even got a hearing on Capitol Hill.

Liu eventually withdrew his name from consideration. Nevertheless, in a masterful stroke, Gov. Brown snagged him for California’s Supreme Court in 2011. Justice Liu is now a highly respected jurist, akin to the court’s one-time intellectual powerhouse Justice Roger Traynor.

Fast forward as conservative Republicans jockey to get Kavanaugh on the U.S. Supreme Court—no matter the cost to his accusers – or the country. It has nothing to do with moral values and everything to do with political calculus. And Whelan is a willing conspiracist.