By James Wright
Staff Writer
Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh faces delays in his nomination process due to recent allegations of sexual misconduct.
Psychologist Christine Blasey Ford, 51, came forward in what started out as a confidential letter to senior Democratic lawmakers on Sunday Sept. 16 with a detailed account of an alleged sexual assault that took place when both she and Kavanaugh were teenagers nearly four decades ago at a high school party, according to USA Today.
Ford described the incident of alleged assault at one point as Kavanaugh trying to “inadvertently kill me.” The letter written by Ford, detailing the assault, has been shared among senators and federal investigators. They now want Ford to testify in front of Congress, according to The New York Times.
The White House released a press statement, which included Kavanaugh’s response to the allegations, according to The New York Times.
“I categorically and unequivocally deny this allegation. I did not do this back in high school or at any time,” Kavanaugh said.
The letter mentions a second person who helped perpetrate the incident, Mark Judge, an author, filmmaker and former writer for the conservative news website, The Daily Caller. Judge also attended high school with Kavanaugh and Ford, and he repeated Kavanaugh’s sentiments on the issue, stating that both he and Kavanaugh were raised in Catholic homes and taught that the behavior described in the letter was never tolerable under any circumstances, according to The New York Times.
As Kavanaugh is up for nomination to the Supreme Court, many Democratic senators claimed that they do not want to move forward with the confirmation process until Ford can testify, according to USA Today.
Democrats demand that the FBI conduct a full investigation before any confirmation hearing is held, according to NPR. However, a spokesperson for the Justice Department said that the FBI already did a background check on Kavanaugh, and the bureau will not be further involved unless a federal crime is committed.
According to CNN, Ford will testify in an open hearing on Thursday, Sept. 27, regarding the charges she made against Kavanaugh.
“Judge Brett Kavanaugh is a fine man, with an impeccable reputation, who is under assault by radical left-wing politicians who don’t want to know the answers, they just want to destroy and delay,” President Trump tweeted on Sept. 21, according to NPR.
On Sept. 23, a second woman, Deborah Ramirez, came forward in a New Yorker article and described an additional instance of sexual misconduct by Kavanaugh during his freshman year at Yale University.
