Trump’s SC pick faces fresh charge

Washington, September 24

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A second woman has reportedly accused Brett Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct, a charge that can further complicate the confirmation process of US President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee.

Justice Kavanaugh already faces a separate allegation of sexual assault made by Christine Blasey Ford, a professor at Palo Alto University, who claims Kavanaugh attempted to sexually assault her at a high school party in early 1980s.

Ford and Kavanaugh are set to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday to address the allegations after a week of fraught public negotiations between Ford’s attorneys and Senate Republicans.

The latest sexual assault allegation dated back to the 1983-84 academic school year, when Justice Kavanaugh was a freshman at Yale University, the New Yorker said, adding that at least two Senate Democrats were investigating the allegation.

The magazine identified the woman as Deborah Ramirez (53). She attended Yale with Justice Kavanaugh, where she studied sociology and psychology, the magazine said. Later, she spent years working for an organisation that supports the victims of domestic violence, it added. Kavanaugh denied the latest allegation.

“This alleged event from 35 years ago did not happen. The people who knew me then know that this did not happen and have said so. This is a smear, plain and simple,” Kavanaugh said.

“I look forward to testifying on Thursday about the truth, and defending my good name — and the reputation for character and integrity I have spent a lifetime building — against these last-minute allegations,” the Supreme Court nominee said after The New Yorker magazine published the latest allegation of sexual assault against him. — PTI