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New
misconduct
accusations
roil
Kavanaugh
nomination
By
LISA
MASCARO
and
MARY
CLARE
JALONICK
APNews.com
WASHINGTON
- A
second
allegation
of
sexual
misconduct
has
emerged
against
Judge
Brett
Kavanaugh,
a
development
that has
further
imperiled
his
nomination
to the
Supreme
Court,
forced
the
White
House
and
Senate
Republicans
onto the
defensive
and
fueled
calls
from
Democrats
to
postpone
further
action
on his
confirmation.
The
new
accusation
landed
late
Sunday
in a
report
from The
New
Yorker,
just a
few
hours
after
negotiators
had
reached
an
agreement
to hold
an
extraordinary
public
hearing
Thursday
for
Kavanaugh
and
Christine
Blasey
Ford,
who
accuses
him of
sexually
assaulting
her at a
party
when
they
were
teenagers.
Kavanaugh
denies
the
claim.
The
second
claim
against
Kavanaugh
dates to
the
1983-84
academic
year,
which
was his
first at
Yale
University.
Deborah
Ramirez
described
the
incident
after
being
contacted
by The
New
Yorker
magazine.
She
recalled
that
Kavanaugh
exposed
himself
at a
drunken
dormitory
party,
thrust
his
penis in
her
face,
and
caused
her to
touch it
without
her
consent
as she
pushed
him
away.
In a
statement
provided
by the
White
House,
Kavanaugh
said the
event
“did not
happen”
and that
the
allegation
was “a
smear,
plain
and
simple.”
A White
House
spokeswoman
added in
a second
statement
that the
allegation
was
“designed
to tear
down a
good
man.”
Sen.
Dianne
Feinstein
of
California,
the
ranking
Democrat
on the
Judiciary
Committee,
called
for the
“immediate
postponement”
of any
further
action
on
Kavanaugh’s
nomination.
Republicans
on the
Senate
Judiciary
Committee
said
they
would
investigate
Ramirez’s
accusation.
Taylor
Foy, a
Judiciary
spokesman,
complained
that
Democrats
“actively
withheld
information”
from the
Republicans.
He said
they
appear
“more
interested
in a
political
takedown”
than a
bipartisan
process.
The
New
Yorker
said it
contacted
Ramirez
after
learning
of a
possible
involvement
in an
incident
with
Kavanaugh.
It said
that the
allegation
came to
the
attention
of
Democratic
senators
through
a civil
rights
lawyer.
The
Democrats
then
began
investigating.
Ramirez
was
reluctant
at first
to speak
publicly
“partly
because
her
memories
contained
gaps
because
she had
been
drinking
at the
time of
the
alleged
incident,”
The New
Yorker
reported.
After
“six
days of
carefully
assessing
her
memories
and
consulting
with her
attorney,
Ramirez
said
that she
felt
confident
enough
of her
recollections”
to speak
publicly,
the
report
said.
The
Associated
Press
tried
reaching
Ramirez
at her
home in
Boulder,
Colorado.
She
posted a
sign on
her
front
door,
indicating
she has
no
comment.
Joining
the
maelstrom,
Michael
Avenatti,
the
attorney
representing
porn
actress
Stormy
Daniels
in her
legal
fight
with
President
Donald
Trump,
claimed
to
represent
a woman
with
information
about
high
school-era
parties
attended
by
Kavanaugh
and
urged
the
Senate
to
investigate.
Avenatti
told The
Associated
Press
that he
will
disclose
his
client’s
identity
in the
coming
days and
that she
is
prepared
to
testify
before
the
committee,
as well
as
provide
names of
corroborating
witnesses.
The
accusation
from
Ramirez
raise
the
stakes
further
for a
dramatic
showdown
Thursday,
as
Kavanaugh
and Ford
testify
in
public
about an
incident
she
characterizes
as
attempted
rape —
and that
he says
simply
never
happened.
Kavanaugh’s
nomination
hangs
precariously.
A
handful
of
senators
in both
parties
remain
undecided
on his
nomination.
Defections
among
Republicans
would
likely
block
his path
to the
Supreme
Court.
The
White
House is
approaching
Ford’s
potential
testimony
with
trepidation,
nervous
that an
emotional
performance
might
not just
damage
Kavanaugh’s
chances
but
could
further
energize
female
voters
to turn
out
against
Republicans
in
November.
Still,
the
White
House
and
Republicans
have
cast
doubt on
Ford’s
allegations.
The
Judiciary
panel
said it
had
talked
to three
other
people
who Ford
has told
The
Washington
Post
were at
the
party
where
the
alleged
assault
took
place —
Mark
Judge,
Patrick
J. Smyth
and
Leland
Ingham
Keyser.
All
three
told
investigators
that
they had
no
recollection
of the
evening
in
question,
the
committee
said.
The
Post
reported
Sunday
that
Keyser
said in
a brief
interview
at her
home
that she
still
believes
Ford,
even if
she
doesn’t
remember
the
party.
As
he
builds a
case for
his
innocence,
Kavanaugh
plans to
turn
over to
the
committee
calendars
from the
summer
of 1982.
Those
calendars,
he says,
don’t
show a
party
consistent
with
Ford’s
description
of the
gathering
in which
she says
he
attacked
her, The
New York
Times
reported
Sunday.
The
calendars
list
basketball
games,
movie
outings,
football
workouts,
college
interviews,
and a
few
parties
with
names of
friends
other
than
those
identified
by Ford,
according
to the
Times.
A
person
working
on
Kavanaugh’s
confirmation
backed
up the
Times
account
of the
calendars
to The
Associated
Press.
The
person
spoke on
the
condition
of
anonymity
to
discuss
the
matter.
Even
before
the
latest
turns,
the
carefully
negotiated
hearing
at the
Senate
Judiciary
Committee
with
Kavanaugh
and Ford
carried
echoes
of the
Anita
Hill
hearings
in 1991.
Then,
like
now,
another
Republican
president
had
selected
a
Supreme
Court
nominee,
now-Justice
Clarence
Thomas,
facing
accusations
of
sexual
harassment.
Senate
Judiciary
Committee
Chairman
Chuck
Grassley,
R-Iowa,
wrangled
with
Ford’s
lawyers
for the
last
week
over the
exact
terms of
her
appearance.
A
breakthrough
came
over the
weekend
as Ford
agreed
to
testify.
Ford’s
lawyers
said it
was
still
unclear
as of
Sunday
who will
ask
questions,
as
Republicans
were
trying
to hire
an
outside
female
counsel
for the
role.
The 11
senators
on the
GOP side
of the
dais are
all men,
creating
dangerous
optics
for a
hearing
that
will be
carried
on live
television.
Democratic
senators
are
expected
to ask
their
own
questions.
They
have
protested
the
panel’s
treatment
of Ford,
comparing
it to
bullying.
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