Another Sexual Misconduct Allegation Against Brett Kavanaugh Is Being Investigated
PoliticsSenate Democrats are investigating yet another sexual misconduct allegation against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, according to a new report from Ronan Farrow and Jane Mayer in the New Yorker, this one from his freshman year at Yale.
The magazine reports that a woman named Deborah Ramirez allegedly endured an encounter with Kavanaugh at a party in a Yale dorm during the 1983-1984 school year, when both were enrolled as freshman. According to Ramirez, the party included a drinking game that both she and Kavanaugh participated in.
“We were sitting in a circle,” she said. “People would pick who drank.” Ramirez was chosen frequently, and quickly became drunk. At some point, a male student pointed a plastic gag penis at her while another stood by. But then:
A third male student then exposed himself to her. “I remember a penis being in front of my face,” she said. “I knew that’s not what I wanted, even in that state of mind.” She recalled remarking, “That’s not a real penis,” and the other students laughing at her confusion and taunting her, one encouraging her to “kiss it.” She said that she pushed the person away, touching it in the process. Ramirez, who was raised a devout Catholic in Connecticut, said that she was shaken. “I wasn’t going to touch a penis until I was married,” she said. “I was embarrassed and ashamed and humiliated.” She remembers Kavanaugh standing to her right and laughing, pulling up his pants. “Brett was laughing,” she said. “I can still see his face, and his hips coming forward, like when you pull up your pants.” She recalled another male student shouting about the incident. “Somebody yelled down the hall, ‘Brett Kavanaugh just put his penis in Debbie’s face,’ ” she said. “It was his full name. I don’t think it was just ‘Brett.’ And I remember hearing and being mortified that this was out there.”
Ramirez was hesitant to come forward with the story because of her own inebriation, though the account was independently corroborated by others who were there. Other classmates of Ramirez, however, insisted that had Kavanaugh actually exposed himself to her, they would have known about it.