by Peter Hasson
Still lacking corroborating evidence of disputed sexual misconduct accusations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, some Democrats now want Kavanaugh investigated for perjury in the latest iteration of their months-long campaign to derail his confirmation.
The perjury push comes as Democrats still lack corroborating evidence to support professor Christine Blasey Ford‘s claim that Kavanaugh tried to drunkenly force himself on her while the two were in high school.
Other than Ford, none of the alleged party attendees — including Ford’s longtime friend, Leland Keyser — have any recollection of the event happening.
Two other Kavanaugh accusers similarly lack corroborating evidence for their claims.
Deborah Ramirez, Kavanaugh’s former Yale classmate who accused him of drunkenly placing his penis in her face during college, was reportedly unsure if Kavanaugh was the perpetrator shortly before she came forward. No other eyewitnesses have corroborated her account.
Maryland woman Julie Swetnick accused Kavanaugh of being present while girls, including herself, were drugged girls in order to gang rape them. No other eyewitnesses have confirmed Swetnick’s account
Swetnick has previously been sued for sexual harassment and an ex-boyfriend of hers once filed a restraining order against her. Swetnick is represented by Michael Avenatti, the attorney for porn star Stormy Daniels who is weighing running for president as a Democrat in 2020.
Republican Senate leaders agreed to give the FBI up to a week to probe Ford and Ramimerz’s claims as part of an expanded background investigation into Kavanaugh, but some congressional Democrats are already saying that the investigation doesn’t go far enough.
The House of Representatives “would have to” investigate Kavanaugh for perjury if he is confirmed without the Senate opening a new investigation for that purpose, Democratic New York Rep. Jerrold Nadler on Sunday told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos.
“We would have to investigate any credible allegations, certainly of perjury and other things that haven’t been properly looked into,” Nadler said.
.@GStephanopoulos: "Would Justice Kavanaugh have to recuse himself from cases involving congressional Democrats?"
Rep. Jerrold Nadler: "I think the proper thing would be, yes … I was astonished at his rant … he's supposed to be non-partisan" https://t.co/Lt6UK9KuUw #ThisWeek pic.twitter.com/ls7NVLlpTu
— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) September 30, 2018
Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders on Saturday demanded that the FBI expand the scope of its background investigation into accusations against Kavanaugh to include perjury.
Sanders, a socialist independent widely expected to run for president as a Democrat in 2020, said the FBI should investigate, among other things, entries into Kavanaugh’s high school yearbook to determine whether he treated women “with dignity and respect.”
“Judge Kavanaugh testified he treated women ‘as friends and equals’ and ‘with dignity and respect,’ Numerous entries in his school yearbook would seem to contradict this,” Sanders wrote.
Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley on Saturday retorted with a letter of his own, criticizing Sanders’ demands as a political stunt.
Shorter Chairman @ChuckGrassley: the supplemental FBI investigation is for those with a good faith desire to get the truth, not a smear tool for #resistance Senators who had committed to oppose Judge Kavanaugh before he was even nominated. pic.twitter.com/TheKHg5fxP
— Senator Hatch Office (@senorrinhatch) September 30, 2018
Other Democrats have embraced the idea of investigating Kavanaugh — and possibly trying to impeach him — if they retake a majority in the House or Senate in this November’s midterm elections.
Democrats currently have a four-in-five chance of retaking the House and a three-in-ten chance of retaking the Senate, according to FiveThirtyEight’s projections.
Avenatti on Friday said that support for both expanding the Supreme Court to 11 seats and for a “full and complete FBI investigation” into Kavanaugh should be litmus tests for Democratic hopefuls in 2020.
“I think the expansion to 11 should be a litmus test and I think the other litmus test should be a full and complete FBI investigation, and if it is shown that Brett Kavanaugh perjured himself or committed any of these acts, he absolutely should be removed from the Supreme Court,” Avenatti told Axios.
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Peter Hasson is a reporter at Daily Caller News Foundation. Follow Hasson on Twitter @PeterJHasson.
