Trump's Supreme Court pick Kavanaugh denies sexual misconduct allegation

Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington. Kavanaugh is denying a sexual misconduct allegation from when he was in high school. File picture: Alex Brandon/AP

Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington. Kavanaugh is denying a sexual misconduct allegation from when he was in high school. File picture: Alex Brandon/AP

Published Sep 13, 2018

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Washington - US Supreme Court nominee

Brett Kavanaugh on Friday denied an allegation of sexual

misconduct dating back to when he was a high school student, and

a senior Republican senator said there was no reason to delay

his confirmation to the court.

Senator Dianne Feinstein, the top Democrat on the Senate

Judiciary Committee, said on Thursday she received information

about Kavanaugh from a person she declined to identify, and that

she had referred the matter to the Federal Bureau of

Investigation.

The New Yorker magazine reported on Friday that in July,

shortly after President Donald Trump nominated Kavanaugh,

Feinstein's office received a letter detailing a woman’s alleged

encounter with Kavanaugh while they were high school students.

It said the woman had accused Kavanaugh of trying to force

himself on her at a party, holding her down and covering her

mouth with his hand, but that she was able to free herself.

Neither Feinstein nor the magazine identified the woman.

"I categorically and unequivocally deny this allegation,"

Kavanaugh, 53, said in a statement put out by the White House on

Friday. “I did not do this back in high school or at any time."

Democrats have fought Kavanaugh's nomination and are seeking

to delay his confirmation.

A spokesman for the committee’s Republican chairman, Senator

Chuck Grassley, on Friday said the planned committee vote on

Kavanaugh’s confirmation would proceed next Thursday as

scheduled.

"Judge Kavanaugh has undergone six FBI full-field

investigations from 1993 to 2018,” he said in a statement. “No

such allegation resembling the anonymous claims ever surfaced in

any of those 6 FBI reports.”

Feinstein's office did not immediately respond to a request

on Friday for comment.

A conservative federal appeals court judge nominated by

Trump to the lifetime position on the nine-member high court,

Kavanaugh made no major missteps in questioning by senators

during his confirmation hearing last week.

Trump’s fellow Republicans control the Senate by a narrow

margin. With no sign yet of any Republicans planning to vote

against Kavanaugh, he seems poised to win confirmation despite

Democratic opposition.

In party-line votes, the Republican-led Senate Judiciary

Committee on Thursday rejected motions by Democratic

senators seeking access to more documents relating to

Kavanaugh's service in the White House under Republican

President George W. Bush more than a decade ago.

A final Senate confirmation vote is likely by the end of the

month. 

Reuters

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Donald Trump