Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) smells something rotten in that new book by Robin Pogrebin and Kate Kelly, The Education of Brett Kavanaugh: An Investigation. The book, which is accompanied by a New York Times report summarizing the authors' findings, concludes there is a sexual misconduct allegation against the Supreme Court Justice in addition to the one that nearly cost him his confirmation last year. Kavanaugh vehemently denied having assaulted his accuser, Christine Blasey Ford. Now, Pogrebin and Kelly claim, Kavanaugh must answer for the allegation that he exposed himself to a young woman named Deborah Ramirez back in college.
Skeptics have poked some holes in the anonymously sourced Times report, so Sen. Grassley poked a few more.
First off, his staff reminds the Times, when the senator was chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, they tried and failed several times to give Ramirez a chance to provide evidence for her claims.
2. Despite 7 attempts by staff, Ms. Ramirez' lawyers declined to provide documentary evidence referenced in the article/witness accounts to support the claims. They also declined invitations for Ms. Ramirez to speak with committee investigators or to provide a written statement.
— Sen. Grassley Press (@GrassleyPress) September 15, 2019
Grassley makes a few more points. The committee investigated the Ramirez claims themselves and found no substantial evidence. The Times itself admits in their bombshell report that they could find no one - no one - willing to go on record to corroborate the claims in their story.
4. The committee's review found no verifiable evidence to support the claims. The @nytimes' own reporting at the time noted that it couldn't find anyone with firsthand knowledge & that Ms. Ramirez told friends she couldn’t be sure Kavanaugh was involved: https://t.co/e1B4ckSGhr pic.twitter.com/Wj1g9dCleo
— Sen. Grassley Press (@GrassleyPress) September 15, 2019
The Times was even forced to issue the following correction.
Lmao outstanding job New York Times
— Comfortably Smug (@ComfortablySmug) September 16, 2019
Absolutely pathetic pic.twitter.com/OxQmNBBlUo
These points did not stop several of the 2020 Democratic presidential candidates from demanding Kavanaugh's impeachment.