President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court justice nominee Brett Kavanaugh is facing an allegation of sexual misconduct days before his scheduled confirmation vote. Professor Christine Blasey Ford broke a silence of 36 years and came forward to publicly accuse Kavanaugh of assaulting her when they were both teenagers. Kavanaugh has forcefully denied the allegations and welcomed further questions about the incident, including meeting with White House staff and members of the Senate Judiciary Monday morning.
In a statement, Kavanaugh said, “This is a completely false allegation. I have never done anything like what the accuser describes—to her or to anyone. Because this never happened, I had no idea who was making this accusation until she identified herself yesterday.”
According to an NBC reporter, Kavanaugh is now expanding the scope of his denial, telling Utah Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch he was never at the party in question.
NEWS: @OrrinHatch just spoke to Kavanaugh and Kavaaugh denies being at the party in question per a Hatch aide.
Hatch told me kavanaugh is “honest” and “straightforward” and said after talkng to Kavanaugh the woman might be “mixed up”
— Leigh Ann Caldwell (@LACaldwellDC) September 17, 2018
Kavanaugh, however, is not the first nominee to the highest court in the land to face such allegations. In 1991, Clarence Thomas faced similar allegations.
The lawyer representing Ford, Debra Katz, said that it is not her client’s job to corroborate her claims. “That’s not her job to do that,” Katz said, “If this is going to be investigated, it should be done by investigators.” (RELATED: Kavanaugh Accuser’s Lawyer: It’s Not Her Job To Corroborate Her Story)
Another man who allegedly witnessed the sexual misconduct, Mark Judge, denies that the event ever happened.