Trump nominee denies assault allegation in ’80s
GOP presses ahead with confirmation of high court pick
WASHINGTON — Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh on Friday “categorically” denied an allegation of sexual misconduct when he was in high school that has roiled the final days of an already contentious confirmation fight in the Senate.
The statement from Kavanaugh was his first response to news reports about the alleged incident when he was in high school.
“I categorically and unequivocally deny this allegation,” Kavanaugh, 53, said Friday in a statement distributed through the White House. “I did not do this back in high school or at any time.”
The disclosure of the allegation against President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court pick has raised more questions, particularly about how the information had been handled as Kavanaugh’s confirmation steadily progressed through the Senate.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has not commented on the allegation.
But Republicans signaled Friday that they were prepared to press ahead with Kavanaugh’s confirmation, with the goal of installing him on the high court by the start of its session Oct. 1. The committee reiterated Friday that it would hold a panel vote Thursday. Votes in the full Senate are expected the last week of September.
Meanwhile, Kavanaugh held what could be a pivotal phone call with Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, one of two key undecided Republicans who could settle Kavanaugh’s fate. The phone A woman alleges that Brett Kavanaugh attempted to force himself on her at a high school party in the 1980s. call lasted about an hour, according to a spokeswoman, who offered no details about the conversation, including whether Collins asked about the allegation.
The developments snowballed after Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, the top Democrat on the committee, released a cryptic and vague statement Thursday saying she had referred “information” about Kavanaugh to federal authorities. She did not detail the material she had, citing confidentiality concerns.
That information came via a letter that was first sent to Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., and subsequently passed onto Feinstein, people familiar with the matter said.
Eshoo’s office declined to comment.
A spokesman for Feinstein said Friday that the senator received the information through a third party.
The FBI does not plan to launch a criminal investigation into the matter and instead sent the material to the White House to be added to Kavanaugh’s background check file. Within an hour of receiving it, the White House sent that updated material back to the Senate Judiciary Committee, where the information is limited to senators and a tight circle of senior aides.
The woman who made the accusation alleged in a letter given to the FBI that Kavanaugh held her down, covered her mouth and tried to force himself on her while drunk at a party in high school. The letter was obtained by The New Yorker.
The womansaid the incident took place at a party in the early 1980s while Kavanaugh was a student at Georgetown Preparatory School, an all-boys academy, in Montgomery County, Md.
She alleged Kavanaugh and a friend of his, both of whom had been drinking, cornered her in a room and turned up the music to blur out the sound of her protests.
Kavanaugh then allegedly covered the woman’s mouth with his hand and attempted to force himself on her, but she said she managed to free herself and bolt out of the room.
Kavanaugh’s friend, who has not been identified, did not outright deny the woman’s claims but told the New Yorker he has “no recollection of that.”
The woman said she has had to undergo psychological treatment as a result of the incident.