Well before news of Dr. Christine Blasey Ford’s accusation became public, the word circulating around Washington was that Brett Kavanaugh had some “possible problems” with women that might need to be cleaned up. Most of those rumors seemed to have something to do with Kavanaugh’s time as a clerk for Anthony Kennedy. Others concerned his actions in the clerks he hired for his own time on the federal bench.
But some of the talk pointed at the court nominee’s college career—the period of time now under scrutiny due to accusations by Deborah Ramirez. As NBC reported (and Hunter covered) on Monday, it appears that the reason those times may have been under discussion is that someone was talking about them. And that someone appears to be Kavanaugh.
In transcripts of an interview by Senate staffers over the Ramirez incident, Kavanaugh claims that it was Ramirez who was calling former classmates about the story, and that the action is suspicious.
Kavanaugh: The New York Times couldn't corroborate this story and found that she was calling around to classmates trying to see if they remembered it. And I, at least -- and I, myself, heard about that, that she was doing that. And you know, that just strikes me as, you know, what is going on here? When someone is calling around to try to refresh other people, is that what's going on? What's going on with that? That doesn't sound -- that doesn't sound good to me. It doesn't sound fair. It doesn't sound proper. It sounds like an orchestrated hit to take me out.
However, the NBC report indicates that it was Kavanaugh who had conversations with his former friends from Yale, well in advance of the Ramirez story becoming public. Texts between two of Kavanaugh’s former Yale friends—Kerry Berchem and Karen Yarasavage—indicate that Kavanaugh was talking to them about the story before it was a story. Which … doesn’t sound fair. Doesn’t sound proper. It sounds like an orchestrated hit to take out Deborah Ramirez.
The texts also indicate that Kavanaugh wasn’t just a nodding acquaintance of Ramirez, as he indicated in his testimony (“friendly, but not friends”). The pair were “more socially connected” than Kavanaugh admitted. And a wedding where the two crossed paths some ten years after graduation … may not have gone as Kavanaugh indicated.
Kavanaugh mentions seeing Ramirez at a wedding in his interview with Senate staffers. In fact, when asked about any post-Yale meetings with Ramirez, that was his immediate response.
Kavanaugh. I'm pretty sure we were at a wedding together. <Redacted> and <redacted> wedding, which I believe was in 1997 in the Baltimore area. And I don't think I've seen her since then.
But the reports of Kavanaugh’s interactions with his former Yale friends mention that wedding—again, before Ramirez had spoken out publicly. They specifically mention that on September 22, the day before Ramirez story broke in the New Yorker, Kavanaugh’s friends unearthed a photo of some of the former Yale students at the 1997 wedding with Kavanaugh “smiling alongside Ramirez.” They didn’t just meet casually or run across each other at the wedding, they were both in the wedding party—Kavanaugh was a groomsman and Ramirez was a bridesmaid. That’s not at all how Kavanaugh presented the event.
Kavanaugh said he only “pretty sure” he was at the wedding in his interview with staffers. Asked again, he said he had “probably” seen Ramirez at the wedding. The wedding … where they were in the wedding party together. Once again, the fact that they were both invited to be a part of this wedding shows how Ramirez and Kavanaugh were closely connected and part of the same circle.
While it might seem that Kavanaugh would have been anxious to show a picture of him smiling next to Ramirez, that’s not how his friends remember the occasion. They indicated that Ramirez “was uncomfortable around Kavanaugh.”
The story as it is currently reported indicates that:
- Kavanaugh was aware of the Ramirez allegations well in advance of their publication. Which contradicts his testimony.
- Kavanaugh and Ramirez were more than passing acquaintances, but part of a small circle of friends who were close enough that ten years later, both would be asked to be in the same wedding. Which contradicts his testimony.
- Kavanaugh discussed Ramirez with his friends in advance of interviews before the committee and with Senate staffers. Which contradicts his testimony.
None of this may prove that Brett Kavanaugh sexually assaulted Ramirez as indicated in her allegations. It’s possible that, rather than being nudged by a guilty conscience or knowledge that the story could erupt at any moment, Kavanaugh was made aware of the impending story by someone connected with the story in development at the New Yorker. His actions in connection with the story don’t immediately prove sexual assault.
They do prove repeated perjury, misleading the committee and their staff investigators, and simple bald-faced lying.