KAVANAUGH UNDER FIRE
AS the US Senate’s judiciary committee prepares to hear testimony from a woman who alleges she was sexually assaulted by Donald Trump’s nomination for a Supreme Court seat, allegations of other sexual misconduct by Brett Kavanaugh have bubbled up.
The committee has confirmed Christine Blasey Ford will testify on Thursday with committee chairman Charles Grassley confirming a vote on Mr Kavanaugh, which was to take place overnight, has been delayed.
“The chairman asked me to relay again that he will do everything in his power to provide a safe, comfortable, and dignified forum for Dr Ford to testify,” read a note from committee lawyers posted on the website yesterday.
Dr Ford, a statistics professor in California, alleges Mr Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her more than three decades ago, when the two were still in high school.
Mr Kavanaugh has denied the sexual assault on Ford, and has also said he is willing to testify to that effect.
However, further allegations have cropped up against him, raising further questions about how far the Republican party is willing to support him if the allegations prove credible.
The New Yorker has published an article reporting that members of the opposition Democrats on the judiciary committee are investigating allegations by Deborah Ramirez, who says that Mr Kavanaugh exposed his penis to her and thrust it at her at a party while the two were attending Yale University.
The incident would have happened in 1983 or 1984.
Meanwhile, Michael Ave- natti — who rose to fame this year representing Stormy Daniels, a porn star who alleges that Mr Trump and his lawyers paid her hush money to cover up a sexual tryst — tweeted yesterday that he was representing yet another woman with allegations against Mr Kavanaugh.
So far, the White House is standing by him.
“This 35-year-old, uncorroborated claim is the latest in a co-ordinated smear campaign by the Democrats designed to tear down a good man,” said White House spokeswoman Kerri Kupec, referring to the New Yorker report.
Mr Trump last week appeared to cast doubt on Dr Ford, saying that “if the attack on Dr Ford was as bad as she says, charges would have been immediately filed with law enforcement authorities”.