Christine Blasey Ford has identified three other people as being present at the party where she says Brett Kavanaugh groped her without her consent: Leland Keyser, Patrick Smyth, and Mark Judge. She alleges that Judge, Kavanaugh’s high school friend, was a witness to the alleged non-consensual groping. She says Keyser and Smyth were at the party but not in the room when the alleged attack occurred.
However, all three of those people have given statements saying that they do not recall such a party. Kavanaugh referred to these statements as refutations of Ford’s claims; the statements indicate that the three do not remember such a party. Keyser was a friend of Ford’s who has said she believes her account. Kavanaugh has strenuously denied groping Ford.
Here’s what you need to know:
Leland Keyser Statement
New: Here’s the letter from Leland Keyser’s lawyer to the Senate Judiciary Committee. Keyser says she will cooperate with the FBI, but has no recollection of the incident in question and thus can’t corroborate Ford’s acct, though she says she believes Ford.
Leland Keyser is a former professional golfer who has worked as a golf coach at Georgetown University. She is the ex-wife of Fox News personality Bob Beckel. She has been described as a friend of Blasey Ford. In a letter through her attorney, Keyser sent the Senate Judiciary Committee the following statement:
Ms. Keyser asked that I communicate to the Committee her willingness to cooperate fully with the FBI’s supplemental investigation of Dr. Christine Ford’s allegations against Judge Brett Kavanaugh.
However, as my client has already made clear, she does not know Judge Kavanaugh and has no recollection of ever being at a party or gathering where he was present, with, or without, Dr. Ford.
Notably, Ms. Keyser does not refute Dr. Ford’s account, and she has already told the press that she believes Dr. Ford’s account. However, the simple and unchangeable truth is that she is unable to corroborate it because she has no recollection of the incident in question.
Previously, Keyser’s lawyer released a statement that said, “simply put, Ms. Keyser does not know Mr. Kavanaugh and she has no recollection of ever being at a party or gathering where he was present, with, or without, Dr. Ford.”
Debra Katz, the lawyer for Ford, responded to CBS News: “As Dr Ford has said, she did not share her story publicly or with anyone for years following the incident with Judge Kavanaugh,” Katz said in a statement. “It’s not surprising that Ms. Keyser has no recollection of the evening as they did not discuss it. It’s also unremarkable that Ms. Keyser does not remember attending a specific gathering 30 years ago at which nothing of consequence happened to her. Dr. Ford of course will never forget this gathering because of what happened to her there.
Patrick Smyth Statement
New — statement from attorney to Patrick (PJ) Smyth
Patrick J. Smyth, a former high school classmate of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh known as PJ, has denied attending the alleged party where Christine Blasey Ford says Kavanaugh attempted to sexually assault her in the 1980s, according to CNN.
On October 1, his lawyer released a new statement that read, “Patrick J. Smyth has fully cooperated with the FBI investigation in this matter. He truthfully answered every question the FBI asked him and, consistent with the information he previously provided to the Senate Judiciary Committee, he indicated that he has no knowledge of the small party or gathering described by Dr. Christine Blasey Ford nor does he have any knowledge of the allegations of improper conduct she has leveled against Brett Kavanaugh.”
Statement from Patrick Smyth, one of 2 people Ford ID’d as party guests, is careful. 1) “No knowledge” of party. 2) “Never witnessed” Kavanaugh misconduct. Neither claim would be perjurious. First is a non-recall claim; second is consistent with her story. t.co/As3rWuKAmy
Smyth, in an earlier letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee sent by his attorney and obtained by the cable news network, denied having knowledge of any such party, claiming that Ford has identified him as being there, and saying, “I have never witnessed any improper conduct by Brett Kavanaugh towards women.” Instead, the letter from Smyth’s attorney praises Kavanaugh, saying that he knows “him to be a person of great integrity, a great friend.”
Holton-Arms School YearbookChristine Ford’s 1984 yearbook picture.
Smyth’s lawyer sent a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee that says Smyth believes he is a person named “PJ” whom Ford has alleged was also present at the party. Smyth and Kavanaugh both graduated from Georgetown Prep in Bethesda, Maryland in 1983, according to an alumni document that lists both of them as contributing to the school’s annual fund. (A social media post from a relative does refer to Smyth as “PJ.”)
“I understand that I have been identified by Dr. Christine Blasey Ford as the person she remembers as ‘PJ’ who supposedly was present at the party she described in her statements to the Washington Post,” Smyth says in the letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee, according to CNN. “I am issuing this statement today to make it clear to all involved that I have no knowledge of the party in question; nor do I have any knowledge of the allegations of improper conduct she has leveled against Brett Kavanaugh.”
CNN reports that the letter continues, “Personally speaking, I have known Brett Kavanaugh since high school and I know him to be a person of great integrity, a great friend, and I have never witnessed any improper conduct by Brett Kavanaugh towards women. To safeguard my own privacy and anonymity, I respectfully request that the Committee accept this statement in response to any inquiry the Committee may have.”
In July, Patrick Smyth was a signatory on a letter of Georgetown Preparatory alumni who praised Brett Kavanaugh to the Senate Judiciary Committee. That letter identifies him as:
“Patrick J. Smyth
Managing Director, PwC
Potomac, Maryland.”
The LinkedIn page for the Patrick J. Smyth holding that position says, “Patrick is a Managing Director in the CFO Finance Transformation Advisory practice with over 25 years of insurance and investment management industry experience. He has held management roles in both operations and finance within a Fortune 100 organization.”
His LinkedIn page says he’s held the PwC position for more than 11 years. Before that, he held the following positions, according to LinkedIn:
Mark Judge Statement
Mark Judge, a writer who penned articles about Catholic sex abuse controversies and for conservative and other publications, including about his alcohol-fueled high school years, revealed to The Weekly Standard that he is the high school classmate of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh who is accused of being a witness to what happened between Kavanaugh and Christine Blasey Ford.
In his testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee on September 27, 2018, Kavanaugh called Judge a “funny guy, great writer” who struggled with addiction. On September 28, the Senate Judiciary Committee sent the nomination to the full Senate on the condition (orchestrated by swing Republican vote Sen. Jeff Flake) that a limited FBI investigation be conducted over no more than a week’s time. Fox News then reported that Mark Judge has agreed to cooperate with the FBI in a confidential investigation. Judge has already given a statement to the Senate denying any knowledge of the party where Ford says she was assaulted, and he also categorically denied a second accusation in which he was named. In a statement, Judge said he is a recovering alcoholic and cancer survivor who avoids public speaking due to anxiety and depression from those things.
New tonight: Mark Judge submits another letter to the Judiciary Committee, and signs it himself this time: “I do not recall the events described by Dr. Ford in her testimony before the US Senate Judiciary Committee today. I never saw Brett act in the manner Dr. Ford describes”
In the interview with Weekly Standard, Judge also strongly denied the accusations..
During her testimony at the Senate Judiciary Committee on September 27, 2018, Blasey Ford testified that her strongest memory was Kavanaugh and Judge, who she said were drunk, laughing at her.
“Strongest memory you have … something you cannot forget?”
Dr. Christine Blasey Ford: “The laughter … the uproarious laughter between the two and they’re having fun at my expense.”
#KavanaughHearings t.co/Ky2rPVrSq9 #ChristineBlaseyFord #SexAbuse #MarkJudge #FBI
“Indelible in the hippocampus is the laughter, the uproarious laughter between the two and they’re having fun at my expense,” she said, adding, “I was underneath one of them, while the two laughed. Two friends having a really good time with one another.”
Dr. Christine Blasey Ford on seeing Mark Judge 6-8 weeks after alleged sexual assault by Brett Kavanaugh: “I said help to him and his face was white.” t.co/g6zGUT60wM #KavanaughHearings
She said she saw Judge at a supermarket where he worked a few weeks after the alleged attack and claimed he looked “ill.”
“It’s just absolutely nuts. I never saw Brett act that way,” Judge told the Weekly Standard of the Kavanaugh accusations when they first publicly emerged. Judge essentially repeated that stance in a letter sent by his lawyer to the Senate Judiciary Committee on September 18, 2018.
Judge revealed on September 9, 2018 on Facebook that he was receiving inquiries from editors about “high school and the 80s.” He’s written in the past about beer-fueled parties in the 1980s, about alcoholism, and has been sharply critical of Barack and Michelle Obama – along with many other topics. He also wrote on Facebook that he kept a diary from the 1980s.
Mark Judge has now deleted his Facebook and Twitter accounts.
Mark Judge
Barbara Van Gelder, the lawyer for Mark Judge, wrote the letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee, which said Mark Judge doesn’t want to testify. The letter explains that Judge has nothing to offer the committee because he can’t remember the party in question and never saw Kavanaugh act as described. It reads:
I did not ask to be involved in this matter nor did anyone ask me to be involved. The only reason I am involved is because Dr. Christine Blasey Ford remembers me as the other person in the room during the alleged assault.
In fact, I have no memory of this alleged incident. Brett Kavanaugh and I were friends in high school but I do not recall the party described in Dr. Ford’s letter. More to the point, I never saw Brett act in the manner Dr. Ford describes.
I have no more information to offer the Committee and I do not wish to speak publicly regarding the incidents described in Dr. Ford’s letter.
Judge’s lawyer also released another statement adamantly denying the claims of accuser Julie Swetnick:
Mark Judge submits letter re:3rd accuser #JulieSwetnick
That letter reads: “The allegations in the Swetnick affidavit are so bizarre that, even while suffering from my addiction, I would remember actions so outlandish. I categorically deny them. I do not know Julie Swetnick. I do not recall attending parties during 1981-1983 when I fondled or grabbed women in an aggressive or wanted manner. I have never spiked punch to get anyone drunk or disoriented. Nor have I witnessed Brett Kavanaugh spike punch. I have never engaged in gang rape of any woman, including Ms. Swetnick. I will cooperate with any law enforcement agency that is assigned to confidentially investigate these allegations. I am submitting this letter under penalty of felony.”