President railies to Kavanaugh's defense
— President WASHINGTON Trump vigorously defended Brett Kavanaugh on Sunday after a new allegation of sexual misconduct during the Supreme Court justice’s college years, as some leading Democrats raised fresh sus
picions that Kavanaugh was untruthful during last year’s Senate hearings leading to his confirmation to the high court.
In an early-morning tweet, Trump called on the Jus
tice Department to “come to [Kavanaugh’s] rescue,” and accused critics of trying to deter the justice from rul- ings favorable to the admin- istration. The president’s angry ripostes came a day after the New York Times reported that a male former classmate at Yale had told the FBI about witnessing an episode similar to, but separate from, an already publicized account by a female class- mate, Deborah Ramirez, who said an inebriated Kavana- ugh had thrust his penis in her face during a Yale party in the 1980s.
The authors of the New York Times story said Kava- naugh did not speak to them about the newly reported allegation.
Last year’s contentious confirmation hearings were dominated by allegations that Kavanaugh, as a student at an elite prep school in the Washington suburbs, sexu- ally assaulted Christine Blasey Ford, then a younger girl who went to school nearby.
Despite compelling testimony by Ford, who went on to become an academic in
Northern California, Kavana- ugh vehemently denied any wrongdoing, and with the backing of the White House and Trump allies like Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), his nomination was approved, thus cementing a conservative majority on the Supreme Court.
Many of the Democrats who want to challenge
Trump in 2020 have frequently referred to the string of sexual-misconduct allega- tions against the president himself, but there has been little appetite for making the Kavanaugh case a major campaign talking point, in part because the episode was so polarizing. In the ensuing months, the president has often invoked the case at fiery rallies, insisting that Kavanaugh was the wronged party.
But with the campaign season now underway in earnest, the previous alle- gations, coupled with newly reported information, are again becoming part of the discourse.
Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Kamala Harris of California both called for impeachment proceedings against Kavanaugh.
Warren tweeted that the new allegations were “dis- turbing,” adding: “Like the man who appointed him, Kavanaugh should be impeached.” Harris declared on Twitter that “Brett Kavanaugh lied to the U.S. Senate and most importantly to the American people.”
Democratic hopefuls Beto O’Rourke and Julian Castro also echoed the impeach- ment call.