by WorldTribune Staff, September 26, 2018
As a new allegation against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh emerged on Sept. 26, the Senate Judiciary Committee indicated the hearing at which Kavanaugh and initial accuser Christine Blasey Ford are scheduled to appear is still on for Sept. 27.
Meanwhile, Attorney Michael Avenatti on Sept. 26 released a “sworn declaration” from a woman who claims Kavanaugh was involved in “gang” rapes in the early 1980s. Avenatti said the woman, Julie Swetnick, claims that Kavanaugh and a friend were “present” when she became a “victim of one of these ‘gang’ or ‘train’ rapes” in 1982.
Kavanaugh issued a denial in response, saying in a statement: “This is ridiculous and from the Twilight Zone. I don’t know who this is and this never happened.”
In response to the new allegations, President Donald Trump fired back, tweeting that Avenatti “is a third rate lawyer who is good at making false accusations.”
Avenatti also represents Stormy Daniels, a porn actress who says she had sex with Trump years before Trump became president.
Earlier, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, California Democrat, said she does not know if Blasey Ford will testify, saying “I have no way of knowing” if she will show up.
In a letter sent to Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, Blasey Ford’s attorneys said the panel’s hiring of “experienced sex crimes prosecutor” Rachel Mitchell to handle the testimony may lead Blasey Ford to renege on her agreement to appear at the Sept. 27 hearing.
Democrats seized on the Avenatti allegations by calling for a halt the Kavanaugh nomination process.
“Republicans need to immediately suspend the proceedings related to Judge Kavanaugh’s nomination, and the president must order the FBI to reopen the background check investigation,” Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said in a statement. Schumer also urged Kavanaugh to “withdraw from consideration.”
President Trump on Sept. 25 accused Democrats of playing “a con game” and praised how Republicans have handled Ford’s allegation.
“The Republicans could not be nicer, could not be more respectful to the process, certainly could not be more respectful to the woman. And I’m OK with that. I think I might have pushed it forward a lot faster,” Trump said, calling Kavanaugh “an absolute gem.”
Of the Democrats, Trump said, “They go into a back room and they talk with each other, and they laugh at what they’re getting away with.”
Kavanaugh has also turned over his calendar from four months in 1982 to Senate investigators. The calendar is full of scribbled notes from May, June, July and August of 1982. The calendar may be used by Kavanaugh to say there’s no evidence he attended the type of party described by Blasey Ford in her accusation, observers say.
Blasey Ford’s attorneys have released statements from four other people who recount her telling them about the accusations over the last few years. None of those people, though, claim to have had knowledge in 1982. Blasey Ford says she didn’t tell anyone until 2012.
Blasey Ford’s lawyers also have asked senators to limit the press who will be allowed in the room to cover the Sept. 27 hearing.
Michael Bromwich said in emails that he was requesting access for three “robocams,” three specific wire services, photographers from the Associated Press, Reuters and one unspecified service, and a pool reporter for newspapers and magazines. In a follow-up email he specified that the robocams should be operated by “the CSPAN TV pool,” and said he also wanted space for a radio reporter.
The emails were among several seen by The Washington Times detailing negotiations between Blasey Ford’s team and Judiciary Committee staff.
The Washington Times noted that “While committees sometimes limit press based on space at hearings, and some witnesses have arranged to have their identities shielded, longtime Capitol Hill watchers struggled to think of precedent for a witness dictating terms of press coverage.”
Senate Republicans have indicated a vote on Kavanaugh’s confirmation to the Supreme Court could happen as early as Oct. 2.
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