Senate

Hirono: Time for Trump to withdraw Kavanaugh nomination

by Megan Keller

Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) said Wednesday that President Trump should withdraw Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court following the release of a third allegation of sexual misconduct against Kavanaugh. 

“A third woman has come forward with a credible account of sexual misconduct by Brett Kavanaugh,” Hirono tweeted. “Time for @realDonaldTrump to withdraw this nomination.”

 

{mosads}On Wednesday Wednesday, attorney Michael Avenatti brought forward allegations from Julie Swetnick that Kavanaugh was part of a scheme to try to intoxicate girls at parties in the 1980s so they could be “gang raped.”

Swetnick alleges that she was a victim of one such incident at which she says Kavanaugh was present.

Hirono has vocally opposed Kavanaugh throughout the confirmation process. She told reporters two weeks ago that she would be “delighted” if Kavanaugh withdrew his nomination.

She has also dismissed the idea Kavanaugh has a presumption of innocence until proven guilty. 

Kavanaugh denied the allegations, which the committee is now reviewing, saying they were “ridiculous and from the Twilight Zone.”
 
“I don’t know who this is and this never happened,” Kavanaugh said. 
 
Some conservatives have contended that the accusation is unbelievable, considering the six FBI background checks already conducted on Kavanaugh. 
 
Other Democrats have called for Kavanaugh’s name to be withdrawn following the latest allegations against Kavanaugh.
 
Both Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) have called for his nomination to be taken out. 
 
Kavanaugh has also been accused of sexual misconduct by two other women, Christine Blasey Ford and Deborah Ramirez.
 
Ford alleged that Kavanaugh pinned her to a bed and attempted to remove her clothes at a party in the summer of 1982.
 
Kavanaugh has denied the allegation and provided the committee with his calendars from that time, which do not appear to include the party Ford described.
 
The three other people Ford alleges attended the event have said they never went to a party like the one she described.
 
Ramirez accused Kavanaugh of exposing himself to her at a party in college in a report from The New Yorker.
 
The New Yorker said it could not find any other eyewitnesses beyond Ramirez, who was not certain that Kavanaugh was the perpetrator until she reflected on the event for six days.
 
The committee is set to vote on Kavanaugh’s confirmation Friday.

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