With Kavanaugh's Past Under Scrutiny, 'Reputation Managers' Talk About Burying People's Misdeeds

A U.S. Senate hearing Thursday will focus on the alleged high school and college conduct of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.

Three women accuse Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting them in the 1980s. Some people who knew the judge at the time claim he was a heavy drinker, prone to boorish behavior. Kavanaugh denies the charges and says he was focused on his studies, sports and community service.

While Kavanaugh's past is under scrutiny, some people are spending tens of thousands of dollars on "reputation managers," who specialize in burying online evidence of indiscretions.

Demand for such services is growing in an era of digital documentation. Apparent references to alcohol in Kavanaugh's Georgetown Prep yearbook help paint a picture of who he was. For a younger generation, there are actual pictures immortalized on Facebook and elsewhere on the internet.

"The future is scary," said Kevin Dami, whose Boston consulting firm, Tactical-Moves, helps push positive information about clients to the top of online search results. "I can't tell you enough how happy I am that Facebook and other online platforms were not around when I was in my teens, or even in my 20s."

The first thing to understand about those regrettable spring break photos — the ones you don't even remember taking — is that they can never be erased completely.

"Your social media activity is like having herpes," said Tim Bourgeois, managing director of East Coast Catalyst in Boston. "Once you have it, you have it forever. And there are things that you can do to help minimize the effect and keep it under control. But every once in a while, there's a good chance it's going to flare up and cause you trouble."

Bourgeois's service isn't all about social media; he said an arrest for soliciting a prostitute is another example of something he can help hide, even if he can't make it disappear.

"What I tell people is: The best defense is a very aggressive offense," he said. "So go out and publish voluminously on all of the high-profile platforms that we know have juice with the algorithms."

In other words, create glowing profiles of yourself on LinkedIn, MeetUp, BranchOut — everywhere. Flood the internet with good stuff that will push the bad stuff down in search results when someone Googles your name.

And make no mistake: Prospective employers are Googling, even if the stakes are lower than for a Supreme Court nominee.

"The MeToo movement — that's clearly a movement that everybody's thinking about," said David Melville, chief executive of the Bowdoin Group in Waltham, an executive search firm. "Business executives understand that maybe we overlooked things in the past that shouldn't have been. People are spending a lot more time talking about, 'How do I keep my culture the right way?' "

The MeToo movement also has FireRock Marketing President Ryan Esco thinking about the ethics of reputation management. It's part of his Quincy-based business, and while he tries to shield clients from some embarrassments, Esco said other offenses shouldn't be covered up.

"If this individual or this company has actually done egregious things that they don't seem to show remorse for or aren't willing to address, we walk away," Esco said. "But there's plenty of organizations or firms out there that will do whatever it takes to erase that background. That's dangerous."

The president of another reputation-management firm told WBUR that business has picked up as the Kavanaugh saga has unfolded. He initially agreed to an interview, then backed out, saying it was not in his firm's best interest to be connected to the embattled judge — however indirectly.

For him, reputation management starts at home.