Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) blasted an allegation against Judge Brett Kavanaugh from an anonymous woman Friday. He argued that the Democrats brought out this last-minute unverifiable allegation to derail Judge Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court nomination process.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) announced Thursday that she had referred Kavanaugh to the FBI for investigation after receiving a letter with “information” about Kavanaugh from a woman who wished to remain anonymous. Oddly, Feinstein had the letter since July but did not question Judge Kavanaugh about the matter during his confirmation hearings or bring it to law enforcement.
The New Yorker later reported that the woman says Kavanaugh "tried to assault her" at a party in high school by pushing her into a bedroom, turning up music, jumping on her and covering her mouth. She says she was able to leave the room but says she was afraid for her life.
"I categorically and unequivocally deny this allegation. I did not do this back in high school or at any time,” Kavanaugh said Friday in response to the allegation.
The FBI was underwhelmed by the referral. Rather than opening an investigation they simply referred the letter to the White House to add to Kavanaugh’s background check.
Sen. Hatch criticized Sen. Feinstein for not acting on the allegation if she believed it to be serious.
“I do not intend to allow Judge Kavanaugh’s confirmation to be stalled because of an 11th hour accusation that Democrats did not see fit to raise for over a month,” he said. “The Senator in the best position to determine the credibility of these accusations made the conscious decision not to take action on them, and the authorities to whom the accusations have been referred have decided not to take action either.
“Judge Kavanaugh has denied these accusations categorically, the only other potential witness has no recollection of the alleged event, and now 65 women who knew Brett in high school have come forward as witnesses of his strong character,” he added.
Sen. Hatch said that while accusers should be heard, their claims need to undergo a verification process and such an investigation in this case is not even possible due to the woman’s insistence on remaining anonymous.
“In this case, the accusations were made in a private letter, which has been misrepresented in a number of media stories, from an accuser who has declined to go public and has asked for privacy,” he concluded. “The letter sent to investigators has had her name redacted, meaning no further investigation could take place. The claims are wholly unverifiable, and come at the tail-end of a process that was already marred by ugly innuendo, dishonesty, and the nastiest form of our politics. The American people deserve much better from the Senate as an institution.”