It also dives into a third incident that was submitted to the FBI - and, was later revealed, went uninvestigated - by a former Yale classmate that claimed he witnessed Kavanaugh at a drunken dorm party where friends forced his penis into the hand of a female student. The doc also features new information that filmmakers say was submitted as tips to the FBI that is presented in the film as corroborating evidence to both Ford’s and Ramirez’ accounts. Justice includes testimonials from Ramirez, as well as friends of Ford’s and college contemporaries of Ramirez’ and Kavanaugh’s, among many others. Prep on Justice began at the beginning of 2022 with Herdy and her investigative team, including former investigative journalist Cali Bagby and retired federal intelligence and security agent Noel Engels, diving into the publicly known allegations against Kavanaugh and tracking down the sources of the uninvestigated FBI tips. In 2018, she had reached out to Ford’s attorney about the possibility of following her throughout and in the aftermath of the public hearings. “When I was initially approached, I was intrigued,” says Herdy, who serves as a producer on Justice. Investigative veteran Amy Herdy’s credits include the college campus sexual assault doc The Hunting Ground and the Russell Simmons sexual misconduct doc On the Record. Heading into his first doc, Liman sought out a practiced producing partner. “We were promised an investigation that never happened.” Liman wanted to fill in the blanks, and dig into what the FBI had reportedly ignored. “I can’t stress enough how personally significant the Supreme Court is and how important it is that we vet the people who sit on it,” says Liman. The tips deemed most relevant were referred to President Donald Trump’s White House the administration would later push through Kavanaugh’s appointment. It was later revealed in 2021 that the FBI received some 4,500 tips while investigating Kavanaugh that went largely uninvestigated. The FBI investigated and later released its report citing, “no corroboration of the allegations” of sexual misconduct, leveled by Ford and Deborah Ramirez, who alleged Kavanaugh exposed himself to her at a dorm party at Yale University. It was with this reverence that Liman, like many in the country, watched the September 2018 confirmation hearings of Kavanaugh, where Christine Blasey Ford testified about her allegations that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her when they were teenagers in Maryland. Says Liman, “Even though I’m not a lawyer, I’ve held the court in a kind of reverence that’s very personal.” Lewis Liman eventually tried a case in front of the Supreme Court, with his filmmaker brother and other family members flying into Washington to attend. Liman’s older brother, Lewis, is a longtime lawyer and now a federal judge in the Southern District of New York, who once clerked for the Supreme Court. Liman was a revered lawyer and activist who helped lead investigations into the Iran-contra affair and the Attica prison uprising, among other notable cases. “The Supreme Court, which is sacred for all of us, holds special meaning for me,” says Liman, who spoke with The Hollywood Reporter ahead of the festival. Sundance: From Barista to Award-Winning Documentary Director
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