Senate Democrats are investigating a new sexual misconduct allegation against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, according to The New Yorker‘s Ronan Farrow and Jane Mayer.
Deborah Ramirez, 53, accused Kavanaugh of exposing himself to her while they both attended Yale during the 1983-84 school year.
At least four Democratic senators have received information about the allegation and at least two are investigating the claims.
The report notes that Republicans “issued renewed calls to accelerate the timing of a committee vote” after learning about the new allegations last week.
“This is another serious, credible, and disturbing allegation against Brett Kavanaugh. It should be fully investigated,” Sen. Mazie Hirono told The New Yorker.
According to the report, Ramirez was”at first hesitant to speak publicly, partly because her memories contained gaps because she had been drinking at the time of the alleged incident.”
After six days, Ramirez felt comfortable telling the journalists what happened.
Via The New Yorker:
She remembers Kavanaugh had 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. Ramirez is now calling for the F.B.I. to investigate Kavanaugh’s role in the incident.”I would think an F.B.I. investigation would be warranted,” she said…
Ramirez said that, when both she and Kavanaugh were freshmen at Yale, she was invited by a friend on the women’s soccer team to a dorm-room party. She recalled that the party took place in a suite at Lawrance Hall, in the part of Yale known as Old Campus, and that a small group of students decided to play a drinking game together.”We were sitting in a circle,” she said.”People would pick who drank.” Ramirez was chosen repeatedly, she said, and quickly became inebriated. At one point, she said, a male student pointed a gag plastic penis in her direction. Later, she said, she was on the floor, foggy and slurring her words, as that male student and another stood nearby.
A third male student then exposed himself to her.”I remember a penis being in front of my face,” she said.”I knew that’s not what I wanted, even in that state of mind.” She recalled remarking,”That’s not a real penis,” and the other students laughing at her confusion and taunting her, one encouraging her to”kiss it.” She said that she pushed the person away, touching it in the process. Ramirez, who was raised a devout Catholic, in Connecticut, said that she was shaken.” I wasn’t going to touch a penis until I was married,” she said.”I was embarrassed and ashamed and humiliated. She remembers Kavanaugh standing to her right and laughing, pulling up his pants. “Brett was laughing,” she said.”I can still see his face, and his hips coming forward, like when you pull up your pants.” She recalled another male student shouting about the incident.”Somebody yelled down the hall, ‘Brett Kavanaugh just put his penis in Debbie’s face,’ ” she said.”It was his full name. I don’t think it was just ‘Brett.’ And I remember hearing and being mortified that this was out there.”
Kavanaugh denied the new allegation in a statement.
“This alleged event from 35 years ago did not happen,” he wrote.”The people who knew me then know that this did not happen, and have said so. This is a smear, plain and simple. I look forward to testifying on Thursday about the truth, and defending my good name—and the reputation for character and integrity I have spent a lifetime building—against these last-minute allegations.”
The White House also issued a statement defending Kavanaugh.
“This 35-year-old, uncorroborated claim is the latest in a coordinated smear campaign by the Democrats designed to tear down a good man,” White House spokesperson Kerri Kupec told The New Yorker.”This claim is denied by all who were said to be present and is wholly inconsistent with what many women and men who knew Judge Kavanaugh at the time in college say. The White House stands firmly behind Judge Kavanaugh.”
The allegation comes as Kavanaugh faces a Senate hearing regarding Professor Christine Blasey Ford’s allegation that he sexually assaulted her at a party when they were both in high school.
Kavanaugh denied that allegation as well.
