On Wednesday, NBC News breathlessly reported that there was yet another allegation against Judge Brett Kavanaugh, this time from an anonymous source.
Here’s the letter to Cory Gardner that anonymously accuses Kavanaugh of sexual assault in 1998. Senate Judiciary Committe spokesperson said they have “no reason to assign the letter credibility.” pic.twitter.com/EZGfOuSk68
— Ryan J. Reilly (@ryanjreilly) September 27, 2018
Kavanaugh responded, “We’re dealing with an anonymous letter about an anonymous person and an anonymous friend. It’s ridiculous. Total twilight zone. And no, I’ve never done anything like that.”
Taylor Foy, a spokesperson for Judiciary chairman Charles Grassley, said:
We have no reason to assign the letter credibility. And even if we did, we’d have no way to investigate the allegation as it was made anonymously and cannot be corroborated. The committee regularly receives anonymous letters, some of which are viewed with credibility, but many of which are not. To make sure no stone was left unturned, the committee asked Judge Kavanaugh yesterday about this anonymous letter. Judge Kavanaugh flatly denied any such event ever happened. – READ MORE
[divider][/divider]As an extraordinary series of uncorroborated, lurid last-minute allegations threatens to derail his confirmation to the Supreme Court, nominee Brett Kavanaugh and Christine Ford, the California professor accusing him of sexually assaulting her more than three decades ago, are set to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee Thursday morning.
The proceedings may be upended by late-breaking developments: In a statement released Wednesday evening, Judiciary Committee Republicans revealed that on Monday, they conducted their “first interview with a man who believes he, not Judge Kavanaugh, had the encounter with Dr. Ford in 1982 that is the basis of his [sic] complaint.” They conducted a second interview the next day.
On Wednesday, Republicans said in the statement, they received a “more in-depth written statement from the man interviewed twice previously who believes he, not Judge Kavanuagh, had the encounter in question with Dr. Ford.” GOP investigators also spoke on the phone with another man making a similar claim.
Ford has previously said there is “zero chance” she would have confused Kavanaugh for anyone else.
In response, an aide to Democrats on the Judiciary Committee reportedly unloaded on Senate Republicans: “Republicans are flailing,” the aide said, according to NBC News. “They are desperately trying to muddy the waters. … Twelve hours before the hearing they suggest two anonymous men claimed to have assaulted her. Democrats were never informed of these assertions in interviews, in violation of Senate rules.” – READ MORE