[SIZE=7]Brett Kavanaugh Questioned By Senate About Fourth Sexual Misconduct Allegation[/SIZE]
An anonymous letter to Sen. Cory Gardner says the Supreme Court nominee assaulted a woman in 1998 after drinking at a Washington, D.C.-area bar.
By Doha Madani and Antonia Blumberg
Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh answered questions about another potential accuser during a call with Senate staff on Tuesday.
Sen. Cory Gardner (R-Colo.) received an anonymous letter from a constituent accusing Kavanaugh of physically assaulting an unnamed woman he was dating 20 years ago, NBC first reported Wednesday. Senate staffers asked Kavanaugh about the incident over the phone, according to a redacted transcript of the call that was released by the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday.
In the letter, dated Saturday, Sept. 22, the constituent claimed that in 1998, while Kavanaugh was authoring the Kenneth Starr report ― which laid the grounds for impeaching former President Bill Clinton ― he was socializing at a D.C. bar with the constituent’s daughter and four friends.
The constituent recounted the daughter’s version of events:
[INDENT]“Her friend was dating him, and they left the bar under the influence of alcohol. They were all shocked when Brett Kavanaugh shoved her friend up against the wall very aggressively and sexually. There were at least four witnesses, including my daughter. Her friend, still traumatized, called my daughter yesterday, September 21, 2018, wondering what to do about it. They decided to remain anonymous.”[/INDENT]
[INDENT][/INDENT]
Kavanaugh denied the allegation.
“We’re dealing with an anonymous letter about an anonymous person and an anonymous friend,” he told the committee, according to the transcript. “It’s ridiculous. Total twilight zone. And no, I’ve never done anything like that.”
HuffPost received an emailed copy of the letter from a spokesman for Senate Judiciary Committee Republicans. In an emailed statement, the spokesman told HuffPost the committee “regularly receives anonymous letters, some of which are viewed with credibility, but many of which are not.”
“To make sure no stone was left unturned, the committee asked Judge Kavanaugh yesterday about this anonymous letter. Judge Kavanaugh flatly denied any such event ever happened,” the spokesperson said.
The Senate Judiciary Committee “received an anonymous letter with no name, address or any other contact information,” the office of Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), the ranking Democrat on the committee, confirmed to HuffPost on Wednesday.
Gardner’s office and the White House did not respond to HuffPost’s request for comment.
In the past month, three women have publicly accused Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct. Psychology professor Christine Blasey Ford alleges that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her in the early 1980s when they were both teenagers. Blasey claims Kavanaugh was drunk at a high school party when he pinned her down, groped her and attempted to take off her clothes without her consent. The judge has vehemently denied her allegation.
Two other women, Deborah Ramirez and Julie Swetnick, came forward this week with sexual misconduct allegations against Kavanaugh, also from the 1980s.
Questioning about the anonymous letter to Gardner’s office begins on page 32 of the transcript below:
Ryan Reilly contributed to this report.