Kavanaugh categorically rejects misconduct allegation

WASHINGTON - Senate Republicans are pressing forward with Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court, showing no signs of hesitation after he “categorically” denied a decades-old sexual misconduct allegation that has roiled the final days of an already rancorous confirmation fight.

The statement from Kavanaugh on Friday was his first response to news reports about a possible epi- sode of sexual misconduct that surfaced this week. A letter received by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, details an accusation from a woman who said she was at a party with Kavanaugh when they were both in high school, according to a person familiar with the matter.

The letter says that Kavanaugh and the woman went into a room along with a friend of Kavanaugh’s, and that Kavanaugh allegedly held her down, according to the person, who spoke on the condition of ano- nymity to discuss a sensitive matter. She said she escaped from the room.

The letter, which is brief, is dated in July, according to another person familiar with it.

“I categorically and unequivocally deny this allegation,” Kavanaugh, 53, said in a statement distributed by the White House. “I did not do this back in high school or at any time.”

The sudden disclosure of the allegation against President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court pick has only raised more questions, partic- ularly about how the information had been handled as Kavanaugh’s confirmation progressed steadily through the Senate. His fate now hinges on the decisions of a handful of undecided senators, particularly two Republican women - Susan Collins, Maine, and Lisa Murkowski, Alaska, - who support abortion rights and now have to weigh the allegation in an era in which awareness of sexual harassment and misconduct have come to the forefront.

White House officials spent the day making calls to senators and aides to determine what impact the letter will have on Kavanaugh’s nomination and whether it might blow it up, according to a senior administration official. As of now, White House officials do not believe it will.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has not commented on the allegation, and Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, who chairs the Judiciary Committee and only learned of the letter through news reports, has been briefed on its contents.