Kavanaugh faces new accusation, as hearing set for Thursday

WASHINGTON—A second woman has come forward to accuse Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct. Deborah Ramirez, in a report published Sunday night by The New Yorker, claimed Kavanaugh exposed himself to her at a dormitory party at Yale University during the 1983-84 school year. “The people who knew me then know that this did not happen, and have said so,” Kavanaugh said in a statement provided by the White House. “This is a smear, plain and simple.”

Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, asked for an “immediate postponement” of the nomination process and to have the latest accusation referred to the FBI for investigation. President Donald Trump pledged his support to his nominee Monday morning, saying the accusations against him are “totally political.” Trump, at the United Nations in New York, declared that Kavanaugh is “outstanding,” adding, “I am with him all the way.”

A few hours before the release of The New Yorker article, lawyers for Christine Blasey Ford, who accuses Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her at a party while they were in high school in the early 1980s, reached an agreement with the Judiciary Committee for their client to testify at a public hearing Thursday on Capitol Hill. According to Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., Republicans on the committee accepted six of the 10 terms Ford’s lawyers proposed, including Ford testifying separately from Kavanaugh, having extra security personnel, and appearing in a smaller hearing room. It is unknown whether committee members will ask all the questions or have outside attorneys take part in the hearing.

Ford identified three potential witnesses to the alleged assault, but so far, Mark Judge, Patrick Smyth, and Leland Keyser, have not corroborated Ford’s account of that night. Judge denied knowledge of the incident, Smyth denied knowledge of the party in question, and Keyser said she did not know Kavanaugh or recall going to a party he attended.

Kavanaugh, who denies the incident occurred, has calendars from the summer of 1982 that do not record a party consistent with Ford’s description, The New York Times reported Sunday. The entries run from June to August and show that Kavanaugh was vacationing much of the summer with his parents or at sporting events, movies, or college interviews. Parties are mentioned along with the names of friends, but entries do not include the names mentioned by Ford, who does not recall the specific date or location of the party, though she believes it was that summer.

The Times also interviewed several dozen people in an attempt to corroborate Ramirez’s account of the incident at Yale but could not find anyone to confirm that Kavanaugh was at the party.