2nd Brett Kavanaugh accuser certain about alleged encounter, her lawyer says
The attorney for the second woman who has accused Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct expressed his disapproval of how President Trump has mocked her account, adding that his client is certain about the alleged encounter.
"I found that comment by the president to be pretty disgusting and pretty hurtful," John Clune, attorney for accuser Deborah Ramirez, told ABC News chief anchor George Stephanopoulos on "Good Morning America" Wednesday.
He added: "She believes wholeheartedly that it was Mr. Kavanaugh."
Trump has questioned the accusations against Kavanaugh, saying the accusation is "totally unsubstantiated" and more than 30 years old.
When asked whether Ramirez should be allowed to testify, Trump said Tuesday she "has nothing" and pointed to memory gaps: "She said she was totally inebriated and she was all messed up."
"And now a new charge comes out and she doesn’t know that it’s him but it could have been him. Oh, gee, let’s not make him a Supreme Court Justice?" Trump said mockingly, speaking of Ramirez.
Clune added that he has had difficulties communicating with the Senate Judiciary Committee as the majority party did not show up on a scheduled phone call Tuesday evening with Clune and Democrats.
"At this point, you know, they keep on reiterating that they want more information,” the attorney said. “We’ll be happy to provide them with more information but why they won’t even talk to us on the phone is a mystery,”
The office of the Senate Judiciary Committee, however, denied agreeing to any scheduled call or conversation with Clune's legal team and that Clune "decided on a time himself and held a call without hearing from the chairman’s counsels."
"The chairman’s office has asked six times for Mr. Clune to provide the committee with any statements or evidence on behalf of his client,” committee secretary George Hartmann said in a written statement. ”He has thus far failed to provide anything.”
Ramirez, 53, is a former Yale University classmate of Kavanaugh's and his second accuser of sexual assault. Ramirez told The New Yorker that the nominee exposed himself to her at a party and "thrust his penis in her face," causing her to "touch it without her consent as she pushed him away."
The first accuser, Christine Blasey Ford, a California professor, alleges Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her when they were high school students. She is slated to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee at 10 a.m. on Thursday.
Kavanaugh has strongly denied the allegations from both Ramirez and Ford.
A number of Republicans have questioned the credibility of the latest allegation by Ramirez.
“I read the New Yorker article, it's pretty thin. No one else remembered any of it. This is really kinda getting carried away. It's feeling more like a circus,” Tennessee Sen. Bob Corker said.
