WASHINGTON (AP) – The Latest on the Supreme Court nomination of Brett Kavanaugh (all times local):
11:35 a.m.
President Donald Trump’s eldest son is appearing to mock a woman’s sexual assault allegations against his father’s nominee for the Supreme Court.
Christine Blasey Ford, a college professor, has come forth with an allegation that Brett Kavanaugh, the president’s nominee, assaulted her at a party more than 30 years ago.
Donald Trump Jr. posted an image on Instagram Monday with the caption “Judge Kavanaugh sexual assault letter found by Dems…”
The photo attached shows a crumpled-up piece of notebook paper with a scribbled message: “Hi Cindy will you be my girlfriend, Love Bret.”
The note has boxes to check for “yes” or “no” and seems to compares Kavanaugh’s accuser to a school yard crush.
Trump Jr. also “liked” a tweet from conservative actor James Woods that compared the accusation to a #MeToo “lynching.”
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11:22 a.m.
All 10 Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats want that panel’s Republican chairman to postpone this week’s planned committee vote on Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court.
The Democrats have written Iowa GOP Sen. Charles Grassley saying delaying Thursday’s hearing would give the FBI time to investigate allegations by a woman who says a drunk Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her at a party when both were in high school in the early 1980s.
The letter says there are serious questions about Kavanaugh’s “record, truthfulness and character.”
The White House and Kavanaugh deny any assault took place.
Grassley hasn’t indicated he’d delay the committee vote.
Christine Blasey Ford described the alleged assault in an interview with The Washington Post published Sunday, complicating what had seemed to be a smooth path to Kavanaugh’s Senate confirmation.
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10:55 a.m.
Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh has arrived at the White House amid scrutiny of a woman’s claim he sexually assaulted her at a party when they were in high school.
Kavanaugh went to the West Wing on Monday shortly after issuing a strongly worded statement denying the woman’s allegation and stressing his willingness to go before the Senate Judiciary Committee to “refute” it. It’s unclear with whom he’s meeting.
The White House is standing behind Kavanaugh as the allegation threatens his nomination.
The woman, Christine Blasey Ford, came forward Sunday in an interview with The Washington Post to say a drunken Kavanaugh groped her and tried to take off her clothes at a party when they were teenagers.
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10:30 a.m.
Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh is again denying a woman’s allegation he sexually assaulted her at a party three decades ago.
The White House released a new statement Monday from the nominee in which he calls the claim “completely false.” Kavanaugh says he never did what the accuser describes “to her or anyone.”
The woman, Christine Blasey Ford, came forward Sunday in an interview with The Washington Post to say a drunken Kavanaugh groped her and tried to take off her clothes at a party when they were teenagers.
Kavanaugh says in the statement he “had no idea who was making this accusation until she identified herself.”
Kavanaugh had been on a smooth confirmation track, but the new allegations have roiled that process.
His statement reads in full:
“This is a completely false allegation. I have never done anything like what the accuser describes – to her or to anyone.
Because this never happened, I have no idea who was making this accusation until she identified herself yesterday.
I am willing to talk to the Senate Judiciary Committee in any way the Committee deems appropriate to refute this allegation, from 36 years ago, and defend my integrity.”
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8:20 a.m.
White House counselor Kellyanne Conway says a woman accusing Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her when they were in high school “should testify under oath and she should do it on Capitol Hill.”
She says that’s up to the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Conway told reporters Monday accuser Christine Blasey Ford should “not be ignored or insulted.” Conway says Kavanaugh also should testify to the allegations, noting he has already provided testimony and has undergone FBI background checks.
Ford tells The Washington Post a drunken Kavanaugh groped her and tried to take off her clothes at a party when they were teenagers in the 1980s. Kavanaugh has “categorically” denied the allegations.
The White House says “Kavanaugh and the White House both stand by that statement.”
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7:30 a.m.
A lawyer for a woman accusing Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her when they were in high school says her client is willing to tell her story publicly to the Senate panel considering his nomination. She says the woman considers Kavanaugh’s actions “attempted rape.”
Debra Katz represents Christine Blasey Ford, who tells The Washington Post a drunken Kavanaugh groped her and tried to take off her clothes at a party when they were teenagers in the 1980s.
Katz told NBC’s “Today” show she “clearly considers this an attempted rape.”
Kavanaugh has “categorically” denied those allegations, a denial repeated Monday by the White House.
Katz says told ABC’s “Good Morning America” the accuser is “willing to cooperate” with investigators and the Senate Judiciary Committee. She says Ford, a Democrat, isn’t politically motivated.
The Republican-controlled Senate panel appears committed to a vote on Kavanaugh later this week.
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This item has been corrected to show the spelling of the lawyer’s name is Debra, not Deborah.
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12:30 a.m.
Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation for the Supreme Court is taking an uncertain turn. Republican senators are expressing concern over a woman’s private-turned-public allegation that a drunken Kavanaugh groped her and tried to take off her clothes at a party when they were teenagers.
The White House and other Kavanaugh supporters had dismissed the allegation of sexual misconduct when it was initially conveyed in a private letter. With a name and disturbing details, the accusation raised the prospect of congressional Republicans defending President Donald Trump’s nominee ahead of midterm elections featuring an unprecedented number of female candidates and informed in part by the #MeToo movement.
The GOP-controlled Senate Judiciary Committee appears nonetheless committed to a vote later this week despite calls by Democrats to postpone the vote.
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