Democratic presidential candidates on Sunday called for Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s impeachment after a new sexual misconduct allegation against him surfaced.
The New York Times on Saturday published a previously unreported allegation against Kavanaugh, whose nomination to the high court last year was rocked by several sexual misconduct allegations, most famously from his high school classmate, Christine Blasey Ford, who testified before Congress that Kavanaugh pinned her to a bed and covered her mouth at a drunken party during their teenage years.
A Yale classmate, Deborah Ramirez, also accused Kavanaugh of thrusting his bare penis at her at a college dormitory party with heavy drinking, at which she pushed it away, inadvertently touching it
“We also uncovered a previously unreported story about Mr. Kavanaugh in his freshman year that echoes Ms. Ramirez’s allegation,” the Times wrote. “A classmate, Max Stier, saw Mr. Kavanaugh with his pants down at a different drunken dorm party, where friends pushed his penis into the hand of a female student.”
However, the Times later updated the opinion essay to state that, “The female student declined to be interviewed and friends say she does not recall the episode.”
“These newest revelations are disturbing,” Massachusetts senator and 2020 presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren said of the new accusation against Kavanaugh. “Like the man who appointed him, Kavanaugh should be impeached.”
“He was put on the Court through a sham process and his place on the Court is an insult to the pursuit of truth and justice,” Fellow contender for the Democratic nomination, California Senator Kamala Harris wrote.
Former vice president Joe Biden said the allegation is “profoundly troubling” and on Twitter called for a probe into “whether the Trump Administration and Senate Republicans pressured the F.B.I. to ignore evidence.”
“Supreme Court justices are not above the law,” Vermont senator Bernie Sanders said. “The revelations today confirm what we already knew: During his hearing, Kavanaugh faced credible accusations and likely lied to Congress. I support any appropriate constitutional mechanism to hold him accountable.”
Former secretary of Housing and Urban Development Julian Castro called for Kavanaugh’s impeachment as well.