Deborah Ramirez has come forward detailing an instance of alleged sexual misconduct by Brett Kavanaugh, which dates to the 1983-84 academic year, when Kavanaugh was a freshman at Yale University.
Ramirez is now the second woman to publicly accuse President Trump’s Supreme Court justice nominee of sexual misconduct. The first public allegation was made by Christine Blasey Ford.
New Yorker magazine published an article Sunday in which Ramirez, age 53, said that at a dorm-room party where students were playing a drinking game, a student shoved his penis in her face, while other students laughed and told her to “kiss it.”
She said she pushed the person away, and, unintentionally, touched it in the process. She remembers Kavanaugh standing to her right, laughing while he pulled 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 to the New Yorker. “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.”
Republicans knew about the alleged account last week, before they threatened Ford with testifying or confirming Kavanaugh on Monday. They had expressed concerns that Ramirez’s story would impact Kavanaugh’s nomination.
Senate Democrats are investigating the new allegation.
“This is another serious, credible, and disturbing allegation against Brett Kavanaugh. It should be fully investigated,” Senator Mazie Hirono, of Hawaii, told the New Yorker.
Other senators expressed their concern for Kavanaugh being fit to serve and called for the FBI to step in. Kamala Harris tweeted:
The FBI must investigate these claims and Dr. Blasey Ford’s. It is also more clear than ever that Mark Judge must be compelled to testify in front of the Judiciary Committee. https://t.co/wzaZWH1ygc
— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) September 24, 2018
The agreement for Dr. Ford to testify came just hours before Ramirez’s allegations were made public.
Kavanaugh’s statement: “This alleged event from 35 years ago did not happen. The people who knew me then know that this did not happen, and have said so. This is a smear, plain and simple. I look forward to testifying on Thursday about the truth, and defending my good name — and the reputation for character and integrity I have spent a lifetime building — against these last-minute allegations.”
The response from the White House, still in support of Kavanaugh: “This 35-year-old, uncorroborated claim is the latest in a coordinated smear campaign by the Democrats designed to tear down a good man. This claim is denied by all who were said to be present and is wholly inconsistent with what many women and men who knew Judge Kavanaugh at the time in college say. The White House stands firmly behind Judge Kavanaugh.”
Ramirez was silent about her story because, like many sexual assault victims, she blamed herself. She said she had way too much to drink.
“Even if I did drink too much, any person observing it, would they want their daughter, their granddaughter, with a penis in their face, while they’re drinking that much” she said. “I can say that at fifty-three, but when I was nineteen or twenty, I was vulnerable. I didn’t know better.”
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