WASHINGTON — Judge Brett Kavanaugh continues to deny allegations of sexual assault Monday accusing Democrats of “grotesque and obvious character assassination” that would dissuade qualified people…
WASHINGTON — Judge Brett Kavanaugh continues to deny allegations of sexual assault Monday accusing Democrats of “grotesque and obvious character assassination” that would dissuade qualified people of entering public service in the future.
“There is now a frenzy to come up with something — anything — that will block this process and a vote on my confirmation from occurring,” the nominee for the Supreme Court said in a letter to the Judiciary Committee chair and ranking member. “Such grotesque and obvious character assassination — if allowed to succeed — will dissuade competent and good people of all political persuasions from service.”
“I will not be intimidated into withdrawing from this process,” Kavanaugh vowed.
Kavanaugh’s letter comes one day after Deborah Ramirez, who attended Yale University with Brett Kavanaugh alleged that he exposed himself to her when they were both freshmen, according to a New Yorker report, which says Senate Democrats are investigating the allegations.
That report came the same evening that Michael Avenatti, the lawyer for porn star Stormy Daniels in her hush-money case against President Trump, tweeted that he is representing a third woman with “information” on Kavanaugh. He sent a second tweet specifying that this woman is not Ramirez, but has not provided any evidence to his claims.
Those allegations follow an allegation by Christine Blasey Ford who says that when she was in high school Kavanaugh held her down, covered her mouth with his hand and tried to remove her clothes after he and a friend locked her in a bedroom at a party in the early 1980s. Ford and Kavanaugh are expected to testify before the Judiciary Committee Thursday on Capitol Hill.
More: What we know about the sexual misconduct allegations against Brett Kavanaugh
Kavanaugh’s letter is a summation of Republican talking points over the last week that have only grown louder in the face of the new allegations.
“I am with him all the way,” Trump said between meetings at the United Nations Monday.
“When it comes to stopping President Donald Trump and his agenda, there seem to be no boundaries,” Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S. C., a senior Republican on the Judiciary Committee said. “What we are witnessing is the total collapse of the traditional confirmation process for a Supreme Court nominee. It is being replaced by a game of delay, deception, and wholesale character assassination.”
The White House sent out a lengthy email in the early hours of Monday morning refuting various points of The New Yorker article.
“Only a partisan would claim these credible without evidence,” Texas Republican Sen. John Cornyn tweeted. Cornyn is on the Judiciary Committee.
Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch, another Judiciary Republican, blasted Democrats for their handling of the newest allegation in a lengthy statement emailed to reporters midday Monday. “No innuendo has been too low, no insinuation too dirty,” Hatch said. “Everything is an excuse for delay, no matter how unsubstantiated.”
Meanwhile, Democrats, who were already calling for a delay in the Kavanaugh nomination after Ford’s allegation, turned up the heat after Ramirez and Avenatti came forward.
California Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, wrote to Chairman Chuck Grassley requesting the “immediate postponement of any further proceedings related to the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh.”
Contributing: Louie Villalobos, William Cummings, Richard Wolf
