Democrats are calling for the impeachment of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh following the New York Times' ridiculous hit piece this weekend alleging to have details about a new accuser and sexual assault allegation against the sitting justice. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-SC) has made one thing very clear: impeachment proceedings against Kavanaugh will not happen.
As Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, I promise you Justice Kavanaugh will not be impeached over these scurrilous accusations.https://t.co/MBpW3G8zOk
— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) September 16, 2019
Graham made one thing very clear: the New York Times writes "scurrilous accusations" against Kavanaugh and then verifies them after the fact. That became apparent when the news organization went back and added a correction to their story.
Editors’ Note: Sept. 15, 2019
An earlier version of this article, which was adapted from a forthcoming book, did not include one element of the book's account regarding an assertion by a Yale classmate that friends of Brett Kavanaugh pushed his penis into the hand of a female student at a drunken dorm party. The book reports that the female student declined to be interviewed and friends say that she does not recall the incident. That information has been added to the article.
What have we learned the last few days?
— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) September 16, 2019
* The @nytimes writes first, verifies later.
* Republicans are presumed to be “guilty.”
* Democratic presidential candidates are willing to ruin Justice Kavanaugh’s life for political gain.
All very sad.
The latest attacks leveled against Brett Kavanaugh are beyond the pale.
— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) September 16, 2019
My heart goes out to Justice Kavanaugh’s family for being forced to endure this ridiculous treatment once again.
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Something to remember: the Senate Judiciary Committee published a 400-page report last November. The Committee found that the allegations lacked any credibility or corroboration.
In a September 23, 2018, story published in the New Yorker, Deborah Ramirez, who attended Yale at the same time as Justice Kavanaugh, alleged that he “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.” Almost immediately after its publication, the New York Times posted a story that said its staff had interviewed several dozen people but could find no one to corroborate Ramirez’s account or anyone with firsthand knowledge of the alleged event. The Times also reported that Ramirez, in effort to refresh her recollection, “contacted former Yale classmates asking if they recalled the episode and told some of them that she could not be certain Mr. Kavanaugh was the one who exposed himself." Hours after the New Yorker published the story, the Committee contacted Ramirez’s attorney. According to the article, Ramirez had investigated her claims and the Committee asked for any evidence—including statements from witnesses—that she had gathered to support her allegations.
Through her attorney, she refused each of the Committee’s seven requests for such material. The Committee also asked her to either speak to Committee investigators or to provide a written statement directly to the Committee, to which she also refused. Ultimately, her attorneys agreed only to contact the FBI to demand that she be included in the supplemental background investigation. The FBI reportedly interviewed Ramirez on Sunday, September 30, 2018. Despite the refusal of Ramirez’s legal team to assist the Committee in its investigation, Committee investigators attempted to investigate her claims to the greatest extent possible, and interviewed seven witnesses regarding the allegation. They included Justice Kavanaugh’s former roommate at Yale, James Roche, several of his college classmates, and classmates and friends associated with Ramirez. Committee investigators also reviewed documents submitted by several former Yale classmates. The Committee also reviewed public statements from three other Yale classmates but found them immaterial because the speakers had no knowledge of the event. Finally, Committee investigators interviewed Justice Kavanaugh in a transcribed phone call on September 25. He unequivocally denied that the alleged incident ever took place.
Committee investigators found no verifiable evidence to support Ramirez’s allegations.
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