FBI to interview woman claiming unwanted exposure
WASHINGTON — The FBI has contacted Deborah Ramirez, who’s accused Brett Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct when he was a Yale student, as part of the bureau’s investigation of the Supreme Court nominee, her attorney said yesterday.
Ramirez’s lawyer, John Clune, said agents want to interview her and she has agreed to cooperate. Ramirez has said Kavanaugh exposed himself to her at a party in the early 1980s when they were Yale students.
President Trump ordered the FBI on Friday to reopen Kavanaugh’s background investigation after several women accused Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct. Kavanaugh has denied the allegations.
Senate leaders agreed to delay a final vote on Kavanaugh’s nomination to allow for a one-week FBI investigation. The Senate Judiciary Committee has said the probe should be limited to “current credible allegations” against Kavanaugh and be finished by next Friday.
While the precise scope of the investigation remained unclear, Trump told reporters yesterday that “the FBI, as you know, is all over talking to everybody” and said “this could be a blessing in disguise.”
Kavanaugh’s high school friend Mark Judge, who Ford says was in the room when a drunken Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her, said that he will cooperate with any law enforcement agency that will “confidentially investigate” sexual misconduct allegations against him and Kavanaugh. Judge has also denied Ford’s allegations.
Lawyers for P.J. Smyth and Leland Ingham Keyser, two others who Ford said were in the house when she was attacked, have said their clients are willing to cooperate “fully” with the FBI’s investigation.
A third woman, Julie Swetnick, accused Kavanaugh and Judge of excessive drinking and inappropriate treatment of women in the early 1980s, among other accusations. Kavanaugh has called her accusations a “joke” and Judge has said he “categorically” denies the allegations.
Swetnick’s attorney, Michael Avenatti, said yesterday afternoon that his client had not been contacted by the FBI but is willing to fully cooperate with investigators.