Senator Dianne Feinstein, the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, says she wants to postpone the long-awaited Kavanaugh hearing set for Thursday. The California senator said that a “disturbing new allegation” against Kavanaugh has to be examined before the judiciary committee will be ready to question Kavanaugh again.
Feinstein is also calling for an FBI investigation into all the allegations against Kavanaugh.
Feinstein made her announcement in a tweet late Sunday night. She wrote, “Thursday’s hearing should be canceled in light of a disturbing new allegation of sexual misconduct against Brett Kavanaugh. The FBI must investigate ALL allegations.”
Thursday’s hearing should be canceled in light of a disturbing new allegation of sexual misconduct against Brett Kavanaugh. The FBI must investigate ALL allegations.
Feinstein was referring to allegations that Kavanaugh exposed himself to one of his fellow students at Yale. One of his freshman classmates, Debbie Ramirez, has said that she and Kavanaugh were both at a party when Kavanaugh opened up his pants and exposed himself to her; she says he laughed at her as she pushed him away.
Ramirez made the allegations to several Democratic and Republican congress members. She also told her story to the New Yorker magazine. You can read the full New Yorker piece here.
The Judiciary Committee’s Republican Chair Hasn’t Responded to Feinstein Yet
Late last week, Chuck Grassley, the Republican chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, was expressing a lot of impatience about the difficulty in scheduling the Kavanaugh hearing. He said he felt like he was “playing second trombone.” He griped about how tricky it was to find a time when Christine Ford could come and testify in front of the committee.
Ford has accused Kavanaugh of trying to sexually assault her when they were both in high school. She has said that she’s received death threats and has been harassed since she came forward with her allegations about Kavanaugh. Her lawyer, Debra Katz, told Grassley that Ford needed a little extra time before she could commit to a date to testify. Finally, Grassley and Ford agreed that she would testify on Thursday.
It’s not clear yet whether the new allegations, by Debbie Ramirez, will impact Thursday’s hearing.
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