New Kavanaugh accuser “reluctant to characterize Kavanaugh’s role in the alleged [Yale] incident with certainty”

New Kavanaugh accuser “reluctant to characterize Kavanaugh’s role in the alleged [Yale] incident with certainty”

There is a reason Democrats and Ford’s team have been stalling both a committee vote and testimony in the Brett Kavanaugh confirmation hearings. They managed to postpone things until Thursday, in an obvious attempt to gain as many extra days as possible. We covered today’s developments in Kavanaugh accuser to testify Thursday even though all her eyewitnesses dispute her story.

They’ve been hoping, and probably working on finding, someone else to make an accusation. Looks like they found a person who initially told the New Yorker there were gaps in her memory of the incident in college that prevented her from “characterizing Kavanaugh’s role” in an alleged incident, but after six days of thinking about it and consulting with attorneys, she was finally ready to make the accusation.

This latest move is part of Democrats’ total personal war on Brett Kavanaugh.

Drudge teased it:

Here’s the story (emphasis added):

As Senate Republicans press for a swift vote to confirm Brett Kavanaugh, President Trump’s nominee to the Supreme Court, Senate Democrats are investigating a new allegation of sexual misconduct against Kavanaugh. The claim dates to the 1983-84 academic school year, when Kavanaugh was a freshman at Yale University. The offices of at least four Democratic senators have received information about the allegation, and at least two have begun investigating it. Senior Republican staffers also learned of the allegation last week and, in conversations with The New Yorker, expressed concern about its potential impact on Kavanaugh’s nomination. Soon after, Senate Republicans issued renewed calls to accelerate the timing of a committee vote. The Democratic Senate offices reviewing the allegations believe that they merit further investigation. “This is another serious, credible, and disturbing allegation against Brett Kavanaugh. It should be fully investigated,” Senator Mazie Hirono, of Hawaii, said. An aide in one of the other Senate offices added, “These allegations seem credible, and we’re taking them very seriously. If established, they’re clearly disqualifying.”

The woman at the center of the story, Deborah Ramirez, who is fifty-three, attended Yale with Kavanaugh, where she studied sociology and psychology. Later, she spent years working for an organization that supports victims of domestic violence. The New Yorker contacted Ramirez after learning of her possible involvement in an incident involving Kavanaugh. The allegation was conveyed to Democratic senators by a civil-rights lawyer. For Ramirez, the sudden attention has been unwelcome, and prompted difficult choices. She was at first hesitant to speak publicly, partly because her memories contained gaps because she had been drinking at the time of the alleged incident. In her initial conversations with The New Yorker, she was reluctant to characterize Kavanaugh’s role in the alleged incident with certainty. After six days of carefully assessing her memories and consulting with her attorney, Ramirez said that she felt confident enough of her recollections to say that she remembers Kavanaugh had exposed himself at a drunken dormitory party, thrust his penis in her face, and caused her to touch it without her consent as she pushed him away. Ramirez is now calling for the F.B.I. to investigate Kavanaugh’s role in the incident. “I would think an F.B.I. investigation would be warranted,” she said.

In a statement, Kavanaugh wrote, “This alleged event from 35 years ago did not happen. The people who knew me then know that this did not happen, and have said so. This is a smear, plain and simple. I look forward to testifying on Thursday about the truth, and defending my good name–and the reputation for character and integrity I have spent a lifetime building–against these last-minute allegations.”

The White House spokesperson Kerri Kupec said the Administration stood by Kavanaugh. “This 35-year-old, uncorroborated claim is the latest in a coordinated smear campaign by the Democrats designed to tear down a good man. This claim is denied by all who were said to be present and is wholly inconsistent with what many women and men who knew Judge Kavanaugh at the time in college say. The White House stands firmly behind Judge Kavanaugh.”

The memory gaps which were filled in recently are suspect:

Ramirez acknowledged that there are significant gaps in her memories of the evening, and that, if she ever presents her story to the F.B.I. or members of the Senate, she will inevitably be pressed on her motivation for coming forward after so many years, and questioned about her memory, given her drinking at the party.

And yet, after several days of considering the matter carefully, she said, “I’m confident about the pants coming up, and I’m confident about Brett being there.” Ramirez said that what has stayed with her most forcefully is the memory of laughter at her expense from Kavanaugh and the other students. “It was kind of a joke,” she recalled. “And now it’s clear to me it wasn’t a joke.”

There are denials from people who knew Ramirez:

The New Yorker has not confirmed with other eyewitnesses that Kavanaugh was present at the party….

One of the male classmates who Ramirez said egged on Kavanaugh denied any memory of the party. “I don’t think Brett would flash himself to Debbie, or anyone, for that matter,” he said. Asked why he thought Ramirez was making the allegation, he responded, “I have no idea.” The other male classmate Ramirez said was involved in the incident commented, “I have zero recollection.”

In a statement, two of those male classmates who Ramirez alleged were involved the incident, the wife of a third male student she said was involved, and three other classmates, Dino Ewing, Louisa Garry, and Dan Murphy, disputed Ramirez’s account of events: “We were the people closest to Brett Kavanaugh during his first year at Yale. He was a roommate to some of us, and we spent a great deal of time with him, including in the dorm where this incident allegedly took place. Some of us were also friends with Debbie Ramirez during and after her time at Yale. We can say with confidence that if the incident Debbie alleges ever occurred, we would have seen or heard about it—and we did not. The behavior she describes would be completely out of character for Brett. In addition, some of us knew Debbie long after Yale, and she never described this incident until Brett’s Supreme Court nomination was pending. Editors from the New Yorker contacted some of us because we are the people who would know the truth, and we told them that we never saw or heard about this.”

The former friend who was married to the male classmate alleged to be involved, and who signed the statement said of Ramirez, “This is a woman I was best friends with. We shared intimate details of our lives. And I was never told this story by her, or by anyone else. It never came up. I didn’t see it; I never heard of it happening.” She said she hadn’t spoken with Ramirez for about ten years, but that the two women had been close all through college, and Kavanaugh had remained part of what she called their “larger social circle.” In an initial conversation with The New Yorker, she suggested that Ramirez may have been politically motivated. Later, she said that she did not know if this was the case.

The corroborating source of the account is anonymous and was not present at the time but says he's "100 percent" sure he was told by someone present. https://t.co/GH9Ph1nwrA pic.twitter.com/rLQC7cJBsh

— John McCormack (@McCormackJohn) September 24, 2018

New Yorker hasn't confirmed the story w/ other eyewitnesses who were allegedly present. Several who were allegedly present denied the incident. One classmate who was not in the room said another student told him about the incident either the same night or the next day https://t.co/Y9rDkVdJqK

— Jeremy Diamond (@JDiamond1) September 24, 2018

They will find a line of people with no proof to do this until next year. Schedule the vote. This is crap. https://t.co/DubRGveqw7

— Jazz Shaw (@JazzShaw) September 24, 2018

I have not tweeted one word doubting Ford's story (thought I have certainly mocked and criticized the process to get her to testify) and have been waiting to hear her out. But this Ramirez story reads so insanely fake I can't believe it's being entertained.

— Karol Markowicz (@karol) September 24, 2018

This will dominate the headlines through Thursday. And expect Democrats to roll out even more accusers:

Republicans were played for fools. This should have been voted out of committee last week.

The question is if a second and third and fourth unsubstantiated accusation will cause any weak Republicans to flee voting for Kavanaugh. If that happens, he’s done. That’s the tactic being used.

It’s pure Borking. Throw so much at the nominee that he can’t get enough floor votes.

UPDATES

And of course Democrats now want a delay of any further hearings

NEW: @SenFeinstein sends Ltr to @ChuckGrassley calling for “an immediate postponement of any further proceedings related to the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh.”

Feinstein also asks that the new allegations be referred to the FBI: pic.twitter.com/cnwcOoEDYE

— Frank Thorp V (@frankthorp) September 24, 2018

Republicans have a choice.

https://twitter.com/seanmdav/status/1044040710960427008

NY Times passed on the story

Ronan Farrow has disgraced himself. NY TIMES:

The Times had interviewed several dozen people over the past week in an attempt to corroborate her story, and could find no one with firsthand knowledge. Ms. Ramirez herself contacted former Yale classmates asking if they recalled the incident and told some of them that she could not be certain Mr. Kavanaugh was the one who exposed himself.

“The Times had interviewed several dozen people over the past week in an attempt to corroborate her story, and could find no one with firsthand knowledge.”
~The NYTimes on Kavanaugh’s second accuser https://t.co/6yQmjVyNGi

— Joe Scarborough (@JoeNBC) September 24, 2018

Donations tax deductible
to the full extent allowed by law.