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WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Monday reaffirmed his support for Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, less than a day after another woman came forward with a new set of sexual misconduct allegations against him.
“He is a fine man with an unblemished past, these are highly unsubstantiated statements from people represented by lawyers,” Trump told reporters in New York, where he’ll be attending the United Nations General Assembly. “Judge Kavanaugh is an outstanding person. And I am with him all the way.”
“There is a chance this could be one of the single most unfair, unjust things to happen to a candidate for anything,” added Trump. “It is totally political.”
His comments come after The New Yorker published a report in which Deborah Ramirez alleged that while she and Kavanaugh both attended Yale University in the early 1980s, he pulled down his pants and exposed himself to her.
“I remember a penis being in front of my face,” said Ramirez, who said that she had been drinking. “I knew that’s not what I wanted, even in that state of mind.”
Three sources familiar with the accusation told NBC about Ramirez’s accusation in the last week. Ramirez, 53, is the same age as Kavanaugh and they both graduated from the university in 1987.
Kavanaugh denied the allegation, saying in a statement released by the White House that the “event from 35 years ago did not happen.”
On Monday, the Montgomery County Sentinel reported that local investigators were looking at additional allegations against Kavanaugh after an anonymous witness came forward. The paper said it was unclear whether the claims were related to those tweeted by attorney Michael Avenatti on Sunday night.
The new allegations come days before a scheduled Senate Judiciary Committee hearing for Thursday in which the first woman accusing Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her when they were in high school, Christine Blasey Ford, will testify publicly and Kavanaugh will testify in response.
After the story was published Sunday night, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., ranking member on the committee, called for a delay in the Thursday hearing.
“I am writing to request an immediate postponement of any further proceedings related to the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh,” Feinstein wrote in a letter to Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, the Judiciary Committee chair.
She also repeated her call for the White House to direct the FBI to investigate both allegations.
Other Democrats echoed Feinstein’s request for a formal probe.
“If Brett Kavanaugh refuses to withdraw, then at the very least we cannot move forward until there is a complete and thorough investigation of what appears to be a disturbing pattern of behavior by this nominee,” tweeted Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J.
“What we need is a nonpartisan investigation into the facts and information, which could help the Judiciary Committee members and others understand exactly what transpired. We need to get this right,” tweeted Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash.
“The Senate simply cannot in good conscience vote on this nomination without a full fair FBI investigation of all these allegations— & an opportunity for these sexual assault survivors to be heard,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., a member of the committee, tweeted.
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., suggested on Twitter that Senate Republicans were purposely trying to rush a vote on Kavanaugh while being aware of Ramirez’s allegations.
“Senate Republicans were trying to rush a vote while they knew Deborah Ramirez would come forward with her story. They deny Dr. Ford an FBI investigation, won’t subpoena corroborating witnesses, and now, this. It’s an embarrassment,” she said.
She added that Kavanaugh must be replaced.
Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, wondered on Twitter, “Did the Judiciary Committee Republicans know of this allegation while they were threatening to vote tomorrow?”
And Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., a member of the panel, tweeted that Mark Judge, who Ford said allegedly witnessed Kavanaugh sexually assaulting her, should be compelled to testify.
“The FBI must investigate these claims and Dr. Blasey Ford’s. It is also more clear than ever that Mark Judge must be compelled to testify in front of the Judiciary Committee,” she tweeted. Judge, who Ford alleged was a witness to the incident, declined last week to testify or offer any further information.
Meanwhile, most Republicans have remained silent about the latest allegations though Grassley accused Democrats of deliberately sitting on the information.
“Yet again, Senate Democrats actively withheld information from the rest of the Committee only to drop information at politically opportune moments. It increasingly appears that they are more interested in a political takedown than pursuing allegations through a bipartisan and professional investigative process. Of course, we will attempt to evaluate these new claims.”