NEW YORK, Sept 24, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – A second woman has come forward with
allegations of sexual misconduct against Brett Kavanaugh, President Donald
Trump’s embattled nominee for the Supreme Court, The New Yorker said Sunday.
Senate Democrats are investigating the bombshell claim by Deborah Ramirez,
53, who says Kavanaugh exposed himself to her during a college party at Yale
University in the 1980s, thrust his genitals in her face and caused her to
touch them without her consent while pushing them away.
Kavanaugh denied the incident occurred, calling it “a smear, plain and
simple.”
“The people who knew me then know that this did not happen, and have said
so,” the conservative judge said in a statement sent to AFP.
The allegation is the latest twist in Kavanaugh’s already heated
confirmation battle, which is set for a dramatic hearing this week involving
a university professor who recently came forward accusing him of assaulting
her when they were high schoolers.
The New Yorker article was co-written by Ronan Farrow, whose reportage
around disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein was key in opening the
floodgates of the #MeToo movement, along with another reporter Jane Mayer.
At least four Democratic senators have received information about
Ramirez’s allegation, the magazine said, of whom at least two have begun
investigating it.
Senior Republican staffers have likewise learned of the allegation and
expressed concern about its impact on the nomination, The New Yorker added.
“This is another serious, credible, and disturbing allegation against
Brett Kavanaugh. It should be fully investigated,” Senator Mazie Hirono, of
Hawaii, was quoted as saying.
When The New Yorker first contacted Ramirez, it said she was reluctant to
come forward, partly because of gaps in her memory because she had been
drinking at the time of the incident.
But having spent six days assessing her memories and consulting with her
attorney, she felt more confident and is now calling for an FBI
investigation.
“I would think an FBI investigation would be warranted,” she told The New
Yorker.
The magazine said it had not found eyewitnesses to confirm that Kavanaugh
was at the party, though one former classmate remembered hearing about the
incident from another, and independently corroborated many of the details
offered by Ramirez.