Ben Wittes, editor in chief of the Lawfare Blog, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institute, and a former Washington Post editorial writer, has penned a long column in The Atlantic musing about the Kavanaugh nomination.

It really is a “Must Read.”

See: “I Know Brett Kavanaugh, but I Wouldn’t Confirm Him.This is an article I never imagined myself writing, that I never wanted to write, that I wish I could not write.”

For Wittes, this is quite personal.

I have a long relationship with Kavanaugh, and I have always liked him. I have admired his career on the D.C. Circuit. I have spoken warmly of him. I have published him. I have vouched publicly for his character—more than once—and taken a fair bit of heat for doing so.

Despite this, Wittes writes: “If I were a senator, I would not vote to confirm Brett Kavanaugh. These are words I write with no pleasure, but with deep sadness.”

He reaches this point through a long and careful assessment of recent events.

Then he spells out his bottom line:

Faced with credible allegations of serious misconduct against him, Kavanaugh behaved in a fashion unacceptable in a justice, it seems preponderantly likely he was not candid with the Senate Judiciary Committee on important matters, and the risk of Ford’s allegations being closer to the truth than his denial of them is simply too high to place him on the Supreme Court.

Do read the full column. It’s a gem.