Republicans are using The New York Times to try to undercut Democrats as well as a New Yorker piece on a second sexual misconduct allegation against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Monday a second allegation against Kavanaugh was “so dubious” that The New York Times “refused to run a story about it.”
“The Times also reported that the claimant said she herself is uncertain of her claim. That’s The New York Times whose credo is ‘all the news that’s fit to print.’ And it found this latest last-minute allegation not even fit to print,” McConnell said during a blistering Senate floor speech.
{mosads} The New Yorker reported on Sunday that Senate Democrats are investigating a sexual misconduct allegation dating back to Kavanaugh’s freshman year at Yale.
Deborah Ramirez says Kavanaugh exposed himself in front of her during a gathering at Yale. She told The New Yorker that Kavanaugh thrust his penis in her face, causing her to touch it without her consent. Kavanaugh has denied the allegations.
But The York Times noted in a story on Sunday that it had interviewed “several dozen people over the past week” to try to corroborate Ramirez’s claim but “could find no one with firsthand knowledge.”
Ronan Farrow, one of the two writers of The New Yorker piece, noted on Twitter on Monday that it wasn’t accurate to say The Times “declined” to publish Ramirez’s story.
“Their reporter pursued Ramirez aggressively. She declined to participate because she was talking exclusively to the New Yorker,” he added.
But that didn’t stop McConnell, other GOP lawmakers and the White House from using The Times to try to undercut Democrats and The New Yorker’s story. It’s an unusual tactic by Republicans given that President Trump has repeatedly lashed out The New York Times as “failing.”
McConnell added on Monday that The Times inability to corroborate the sexual misconduct allegation against Kavanaugh didn’t stop “Judiciary Committee Democrats from shoveling it into their smear campaign and demanding for further delays.”
Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), a member of the Judiciary Committee, noted in a lengthy statement that The New York Times “declined to publish the allegations when approached” and reported that Ramirez “told some [classmates] that she could not be certain Mr. Kavanaugh was the one who exposed himself.”
“Unsurprisingly, Senate Democrats are now using last night’s article as an excuse to call for further delays,” Hatch said.
The statements come after the White House also tried to use the New York Times to tear down the New Yorker piece detailing the sexual misconduct allegation against Kavanaugh.
A White House spokesperson emailed reporters early Monday morning saying the New York Times piece “severely undercuts” the New Yorker story.
They pointed to The New York Times noting it was unable to corroborate the sexual misconduct allegation and Ramirez reportedly telling her former classmates that “she could not be certain Mr. Kavanaugh was the one who exposed himself.”
“Tonight, many questions have been raised about the New Yorker’s story on Debbie Ramirez’s allegation. But this excerpt in the New York Times is the most damning,” the White House aide said.