New Report Indicates Kavanaugh Lied About Deborah Ramirez Under Oath
President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh is sworn-in before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Sept. 4, 2018. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
The Rantt Rundown: Day 620 of the Trump presidency
The Lede: With the Senate floor vote for Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation approaching this Friday and the FBI’s background investigation expanded in scope by the White House, a report today raises more questions about the honesty of Kavanaugh. It also appears to bolster the credibility of Deborah Ramirez’s allegation.
NBC News reported that two former classmates, Kerry Berchem and Karen Yarasavag who also attended Yale with Kavanaugh, are in possession of some damning text messages. They reportedly reveal that Brett Kavanaugh and his team were trying to get ahead of Deborah Ramirez’s allegation as far back as July of this year. They paint a picture of Kavanaugh reaching out to former classmates to try and discredit Ramirez. One message even included Yarasavag claiming that Kavanaugh asked her to go on the record in his defense.
In another text, Berchem raised concerns about a 1997 wedding of a mutual friend that Brett Kavanaugh and Deborah Ramirez attended. Berchem claimed that Ramirez tried to avoid Kavanaugh and “clung” to her. Berchem has unsuccessfully tried to get in touch with the FBI to provide these text messages.
This reported effort by Kavanaugh and his team to discredit Ramirez’s allegation was in the lead up to the New Yorker story by Ronan Farrow and Jane Mayer that outlined Ramirez’s allegation of Kavanaugh placing his penis in her face in a college dorm room while their peers egged him on.
This is key, because as NBC reports, “Kavanaugh told the Senate Judiciary Committee under oath that the first time he heard of Ramirez’s allegation was in the Sept. 23 article in The New Yorker.”
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley’s spokesman stated: “the texts from Ms. Berchem do not appear relevant or contradictory to Judge Kavanaugh’s testimony.”
Reality says otherwise.
The Context: In stark contrast to Dr. Christine Blasey Ford’s very credible testimony recounting her alleged assault, Judge Brett Kavanaugh was objectively not credible. During the September 27th hearing, he appeared entitled, enraged, temperamentally unstable, and reckless with his words as he concocted a Clinton conspiracy theory and failed to be truthful about the simplest of things, such as whether or not he watched Dr. Ford’s testimony. Kavanaugh also lied about Dr. Ford’s witnesses. He claimed that they said the assault “didn’t happen” when they actually said they had no recollection of it. In fact, one of them said they believed Dr. Ford.
The list goes on. Here is a quick thread of the lies and here’s a more comprehensive article on it.
ALL THE LIES KAVANAUGH TOLD CAN’T EVEN FIT INTO A SINGLE TWEET:
Ford’s allegations are refuted
Never attended a gathering like the one described by FORD
Did not travel in the same circles as Ford
Did not drink beer to the point of blacking out
Drinking age was 18 in MD 1/
— igorvolsky (@igorvolsky) October 1, 2018
The Analysis: Yes, Kavanaugh has numerous other reasons for his confirmation to be voted down (his partisanship or the allegations themselves) but his lying is especially important. Besides potentially amounting to the legal definition of perjury, Kavanaugh’s lies place his confirmation in jeopardy. Senator Jeff Flake (R-AZ), whose maverick moment triggered by brave survivors of sexual assault got us this delay and FBI investigation, is a key vote for confirming Kavanaugh. And in an interview with 60 minutes, Flake said if Kavanaugh lied to the committee, his nomination would over:
Scott Pelley: “If Judge Kavanaugh is shown to have lied to the committee, nomination’s over?”
Jeff Flake: “Oh, yes.”
Chris Coons: “I would think so.” https://t.co/pfONsabFEt
— Tim O’Brien (@TimOBrien) October 1, 2018
Senator Susan Collins (R-ME), another key Senator, has also called lying on the part of Kavanaugh disqualifying.
We shall see if they stick to their word.
In other news…
- NBC News: White House authorizes FBI to expand probe of Kavanaugh
- The New York Times: Kavanaugh Was Questioned by Police After Bar Fight in 1985
- The New York Times: Migrant Children Moved Under Cover of Darkness to a Texas Tent City
- Vox: The US, Canada, and Mexico have a new NAFTA deal. It’s called USMCA.
Reminder that Obama renegotiated NAFTA through TPP. Trump basically embraces TPP provisions which he trashed, and which would have applied not just to Canada and Mexico but to a huge chunk of Asia, also creating a coalition that could stand up to China. https://t.co/Zrf5u9LQns
— Ben Rhodes (@brhodes) October 1, 2018
- President Trump disrespected a female reporter…again.
Trump to woman reporter: “She’s shocked I picked her, she’s in a state of shock”
Reporter: “I’m not, thank you Mr. President”
Trump: “I know you’re not thinking, you never do”
Reporter: “I’m sorry?”
Trump: “Go ahead”This is institutionalized misogyny.
— Shannon Watts (@shannonrwatts) October 1, 2018
