Third woman publicly accuses Brett Kavanaugh of misconduct
Supreme Court nominee denies claims that he was present at parties where girls were ‘gang raped’
Ben Riley-smith
Nick Allen
A THIRD woman publicly accused Brett Kavanaugh, Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, of sexual misconduct yesterday, claiming he was present at parties as a teenager where girls were “gang raped”.
Julie Swetnick, a former US government employee, alleged that Mr Kavanaugh and his friends attempted to “spike” drinks so women would be too inebriated to say “no” in the Eighties.
She also claimed to have seen Mr Kavanaugh in a line of boys outside a room at one of these parties “waiting for their ‘turn’ with a girl in the room”.
Mr Kavanaugh denied the allegations, saying: “This is ridiculous and from The Twilight Zone. I don’t know who this is and this never happened.”
The new claims plunged his confirmation into further uncertainty, causing leading Democrats to demand the president withdraw Mr Kavanaugh as his nominee for the Supreme Court.
Mr Trump dismissed the latest allegations, calling them a “disgrace” and a “con”. He expressed hope that Mr Kavanaugh would be confirmed “over the next couple of days”, and predicted he would become one of the “greatest ever” Supreme Court judges. However, Mr Trump later said he was not ruling out withdrawing the nomination of Judge Kavanaugh if he found the accusers convincing. The president told a press conference: “I can always be convinced. If I thought he was guilty of something like this, yes sure. I want to watch. I want to see.” Kavanaugh and Christine Blasey Ford, the first to accuse him of sexual misconduct, will today testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee, which vets nominees. Millions are expected to tune in to the live broadcast at 8am Washington time, with the row seen as test for how the US deals with such allegations in the wake of #Metoo.
The Republican leadership yesterday insisted it would push ahead with a scheduled vote of committee members tomorrow on Mr Kavanaugh’s nomination. The result hangs in the balance with Jeff Flake, a Republican senator who frequently criticises Mr Trump, seen as the key swing vote. Yesterday he repeated criticism of how the process had been handled.
A full vote of the Senate, which the Republicans hold by 51 seats to 49, would then be needed. Republicans want to fill the Supreme Court seat before the November midterm elections, when they could lose their majority.
Mr Kavanaugh appeared to be cruising towards a certain confirmation until the allegations emerged.
Mrs Ford claimed he had pinned her on a bed and groped her while drunk at a house party in 1982. Mr Kavanaugh “completely” denied the claim and yesmr terday produced his calendar from that time in an attempt to disprove the allegation.
A second woman, Deborah Ramirez, then claimed that Mr Kavanaugh had thrust his genitals in her face during a party at Yale University in the early Eighties. He denied the claims and said the event “did not happen”. Ms Swetnick, the third accuser, yesterday made her claims via Michael Avenatti, her lawyer, who also represented Stormy Daniels, the porn star who claimed an affair with Mr Trump.
Mr Avenatti tweeted a 14-point statement apparently signed by Ms Swetnick, who worked in government and had some security clearance, which outlined her background and allegations.
Ms Swetnick claimed that she first met Mr Kavanaugh and Mark Judge, his high-school friend, in the early Eighties and attended “well over” 10 parties with both around the Washington DC area.
Ms Swetnick alleged: “On numerous occasions at these parties, I witnessed Mark Judge and Brett Kavanaugh drink excessively and engage in highly inappropriate conduct, including being overly aggressive with girls and not taking ‘no’ for an answer.” She alleged that Mr Kavanaugh would “engage in abusive and physically aggressive behaviour toward girls”, including “pressing girls against him without consent, ‘grinding’ against girls, and attempting to remove or shift girls’ clothing to expose private body parts”.
Ms Swetnick claimed that Mr Kavanaugh, Mr Judge and others made efforts “to ‘spike’ the ‘punch’ at parties I attended with drugs and/or grain alcohol so as to cause girls to lose their inhibitions and their ability to say ‘no.’” Ms Swetnick alleged she was raped around 1982 “where Mark Judge and Brett Kavanaugh were present”, and believes she was drugged.
There is no suggestion that either of men is accused of committing the sexual assault. Mr Kavanaugh said in testimony to senators: “I have never sexually assaulted anyone – not in high school, not in college, not ever.”
‘I have never sexually assaulted anyone – not in high school, not in college, not ever’