Charles J. Ogletree,
Faculty Director

2001 OPINION EDITORIAL

The Real David Brock
By Charles J. Ogletree Jr.

June 30, 2001, Boston Globe

DAVID BROCK, the former darling of conservatives whose initial claim to fame was his blistering and substantially false attack on Anita Hill's credibility, has now acknowledged what many of us knew: He is a liar willing to go to great lengths to damage the careers of innocent people. His confession of the many lies he has perpetrated comes as no surprise to those of us who knew his claims were false when they were made. Regrettably, his recent change of heart comes much too late.

Brock is no stranger to me. We spoke on a variety of occasions when he was writing his book ''The Real Anita Hill.'' Our conversations were emphatic and terse. I told him that many of his claims were false, and provided him with accurate information concerning my client, law professor Anita Hill. Not surprisingly, few of the corrections and assertions I made appeared in his book.

He was hellbent on destroying Anita Hill and her supporters in a blind ambition to portray Justice Clarence Thomas as a victim of politically mounted attacks on his character and ideology.

Now, many years after Brock's false reporting on Anita Hill, he admits fabricating evidence, intimidating supporters of Anita Hill, and withholding information that would have raised additional concerns about Justice Clarence Thomas.

In fact, in a Washington Post article written by Howard Kurtz, Brock confessed: ''I not only wrote a book I now believe was wrong, I consciously lied in print in a book review on this subject. I think I owe a debt to the historical record to correct it. If I made a mistake here, the mistake would be that I knew these facts five years ago and didn't disclose them.''

Some will believe that Brock's change of heart is a result of guilt. While Brock's internal demons may be a part of his backtracking, it is probably attributable to two other factors: time and money.

Time is now a friend to Brock. He knew the statements he wrote in 1994 were false. He also had to know, as a seasoned journalist, that some of the slander claims that Hill, Kate Savage, and others could bring against him are barred by statute of limitations.

Thus he cunningly and selfishly delayed his announcement for seven years, knowing that the time period to bring a claim has expired. Whether members of Congress, or an independent counsel urged by the attorney general, is prepared to pursue possible violations of criminal law is another matter.

One wonders whether Republican Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, who all but accused Hill of perjury, has the courage to investigate the harm caused by Brock as a matter of great public interest and to determine all the sources of the lies and betrayals.

Money is also a factor in Brock's recent revelations. First, his false book concerning Anita Hill was a bestseller, and was on the coffee tables of many conservatives. With his recent revelations, he also announced the upcoming publication of a new book, ''Blinded by the Right: the Conscience of an Ex-Conservative.''

It is predictable that Brock will use his false writings as a foundation to write the new book of confessions, and the public is likely to also make it a bestseller. It is no secret that both The New York Times and The Washington Post received early reports of Brock's admission of past lies and ran prominent stories about it. Thus, readers are now anxious to receive the admissions of error in Brock's upcoming book. His confessions will profit him, and the true victims of his outrageous lies will have no recourse.

As the public reflects on the lies engineered by David Brock, there is little comfort among those who called him a liar years ago. What we do take comfort in is the fact that, as we all expected, Hill is vindicated from the scurrilous attacks she and others endured, and the responsibility of the Senate to take its advice and consent role more seriously may prevent politicians from attacking the messenger during upcoming judicial confirmation hearings. I am afraid we have not heard the last of David Brock. The key question is whether anything he says in the future is worth our consideration. I think not.

Charles J. Ogletree Jr. is the Jesse Climenko Professor of Law at Harvard Law School and served as lead counsel for Anita Hill during the Senate confirmation hearings of Justice Clarence Thomas.

This story ran on page A14 of the Boston Globe on 6/30/2001

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