Judiciary Committee Democrats to Trump: Withdraw Kavanaugh Nomination, Order FBI Investigation

Washington—Following the release of a sworn affidavit from Julie Swetnick detailing new allegations of sexual assault by Brett Kavanaugh, all 10 Democratic members of the Senate Judiciary Committee today urged President Trump to immediately withdraw the nomination or order an FBI investigation into all allegations.

            The senators wrote: “We are writing to request that you immediately withdraw the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to be an Associate Justice on the Supreme Court or direct the FBI to re-open its background investigation and thoroughly examine the multiple allegations of sexual assault.

            “Judge Kavanaugh is being considered for a promotion. He is asking for a lifetime appointment to the nation’s highest court where he will have the opportunity to rule on matters that will impact Americans for decades. The standard of character and fitness for a position on the nation’s highest court must be higher than this. Judge Kavanaugh has staunchly declared his respect for women and issued blanket denials of any possible misconduct, but those declarations are in serious doubt.”

            Full text of the letter follows:

September 26, 2018

The President
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW
Washington, D.C. 20500

Dear Mr. President:

            We are writing to request that you immediately withdraw the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to be an Associate Justice on the Supreme Court or direct the FBI to re-open its background investigation and thoroughly examine the multiple allegations of sexual assault.

            As you know, earlier this month, Christine Blasey Ford’s credible and serious allegations of sexual assault by Judge Kavanaugh were referred to the FBI for investigation. Since then, Deborah Ramirez has come forward with additional allegations of sexual misconduct and today, another woman, Julie Swetnick, has submitted a sworn affidavit to the Senate Judiciary Committee recounting Brett Kavanaugh drinking excessively at parties and engaging “in abusive and physically aggressive behavior toward girls, including pressing girls against him without their consent, ‘grinding’ against girls, and attempting to remove or shift girls’ clothing to expose private body parts.”

            It is clear from reporting that there were others present or with knowledge of each of these shocking allegations who also should be interviewed. We have repeatedly asked Chairman Grassley and you to direct the FBI to investigate Dr. Ford’s and Ms. Ramirez’s allegations.

            The serious and credible allegations of one woman should have been enough to require a complete investigation by the FBI. It should not have required multiple women with consistent accounts of serious sexual misconduct by Judge Kavanaugh to trigger a meaningful nonpartisan investigation.

            Judge Kavanaugh is being considered for a promotion. He is asking for a lifetime appointment to the nation’s highest court where he will have the opportunity to rule on matters that will impact Americans for decades. The standard of character and fitness for a position on the nation’s highest court must be higher than this. Judge Kavanaugh has staunchly declared his respect for women and issued blanket denials of any possible misconduct, but those declarations are in serious doubt.

            We therefore ask that you immediately direct an FBI investigation or withdraw this nomination.

Sincerely,

Dianne Feinstein
Ranking Member

Patrick J. Leahy
United States Senator

Richard J. Durbin
United States Senator

Sheldon Whitehouse
United States Senator

Amy Klobuchar
United States Senator

Christopher A. Coons
United States Senator

Richard Blumenthal
United States Senator

Mazie K. Hirono
United States Senator

Cory A. Booker
United States Senator

Kamala D. Harris
United States Senator

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