Tipsheet

After Running Smear Filled Story on Kavanaugh, New York Times Issues a 'Correction,' Then Continues Lying

Katie Pavlich
Katie Pavlich  |  September 16, 2019 11:00 AM

Over the weekend the New York Times, the alleged "paper of record" for America, ran an excerpt from a new book about Justice Brett Kavanaugh. In the excerpt, Kavanaugh is accused of sexual misconduct similar to allegations made by Deborah Ramirez during his Supreme Court confirmation hearing.

The latest and newest allegation was completely made up and the woman who was supposedly "the victim" said she has no recollection of any situation involving Kavanaugh. This lie was pushed by Max Stier, a former Clinton lawyer who battled Kavanaugh during the Whitewater scandal in the 1990s.

And for the record, the Ramirez allegations also had zero evidence or credibility. From a 400-page report published by the Senate Judiciary Committee in November 2018 (bolding is mine): 

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.

After being exposed by The Federalist's Mollie Hemingway for failing to include that the "victim" refused to be interviewed for the book (because it didn't happen), the NYT issued the following statement and tried to explain on Twitter. 

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.

Oh, and then there's this. After issuing the "correction," the NYT continues to push the lie in a separate article.

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