U.S. Supreme Court

New York Times reports on new unconfirmed allegation against Kavanaugh; Dems call for impeachment

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Brett Kavanaugh

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh.

Some Democrats are calling for impeachment of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh after the New York Times reported on a new allegation against him in an article that is itself bringing criticism. The New York Times article, published over this past weekend, was an essay in its opinion section that was adapted from an upcoming book written by two New York Times reporters called The Education of Brett Kavanaugh: An Investigation.

The article included two revelations. The first was that at least seven people had heard about an alleged incident in which Kavanaugh was accused of thrusting his penis near the face of former Yale classmate Deborah Ramirez during a college drinking party. The FBI didn’t interview them, however, because of strict limits placed on the investigation by the Senate. The seven people had heard about the alleged incident long before Kavanaugh became a federal judge; two of them heard about it just days afterward, the article reported.

Kavanaugh has previously denied the allegation, along with an allegation by Christine Blasey Ford that Kavanaugh pinned her to a bed during a high school party and grinded on top of her. He declined to comment through a court spokeswoman.

The second revelation in the New York Times article was that another former Yale classmate, Max Stier, said he saw Kavanaugh with his pants down at a different party, and that friends pushed Kavanaugh’s penis into the hand of a female student. Stier said he reported the incident to the FBI, but it didn’t investigate. Stier refused to be interviewed.

The New York Times later revised the article to report that the female student also declined to be interviewed, and her friends said she does not recall the incident.

Fox News called that addition “a major revision” and said Stier is a Clinton-connected lawyer who represented former President Bill Clinton during the Whitewater investigation by independent counsel Kenneth Starr. According to Newsweek, Stier worked on the investigation while at the law firm Williams & Connolly. He was also a former clerk for Justice David H. Souter.

Defenders said Stier is nonpartisan, and the nonprofit he heads, the Partnership for Public Service, had worked with both the Clinton and Trump campaigns before the 2016 presidential election.

After the New York Times published its article, several Democratic presidential candidates called for Kavanaugh’s impeachment, the New York Times reports in a separate story. The Associated Press and the Washington Post also have coverage.

Among the candidates calling for impeachment were Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Sen. Kamala Harris, Sen. Cory Booker, former Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke and former U.S. Housing Secretary Julian Castro. Former Vice President Joe Biden said the allegations were “profoundly troubling” and called for an investigation into “whether the Trump Administration and Senate Republicans pressured the FBI to ignore evidence.”

President Donald Trump defended Kavanaugh on Twitter and said he should sue for libel.

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