WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh has said that he “never sexually assaulted anyone” and always treated women with dignity and respect, as he sought a fair process to defend his “integrity” over the mounting sexual misconduct allegations that have put his confirmation into jeopardy.
Two women – Christine Blasey Ford and Deborah Ramirez – have come out publicly in the last 10 days, alleging that they were sexually assaulted by Kavanaugh 36 and 25 years ago respectively.
“I have never sexually assaulted anyone, not in high school, not ever. I have always treated women with dignity and respect,” Kavanaugh said on Monday as he broke his long silence on the issue. “Listen to the people who have known me best through my whole life, the women who have known me since high school, the 65 who overnight signed a letter from high school, saying I always treated them with dignity and respect…,” he told Fox News as he gave his first interview along with his wife.
“I am looking for a fair process, a process where I can defend my integrity and clear my name. And all I am asking for is fairness and that I’d be heard in this process,” Kavanaugh, 53, said.
Kavanaugh and his first accuser 51-year-old Ford, a professor at Palo Alto University, are scheduled to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday.
The Democrats are asking for an FBI investigation into the incident, which so far has been stonewalled by the Republicans and President Trump. “This is an allegation about a party in the summer of 1982 at a house near Connecticut Avenue and East-West Highway with five people present. I was never at any such party,” Kavanaugh said. “The other people who were alleged to be present have said they do not remember any such party. A woman who was present, another woman who was present, who is Dr Ford’s lifelong friend, has said she does not know me and never remembers being at a party with me at any time in her life. All I am asking for is a fair process where I can be heard,” he added.
President Trump continues to support the nomination of Judge Kavanaugh. He has questioned the motives of the Democrats in raising this issue.
Trump has also questioned the credibility of Ford, contending that if the alleged attack was so bad then she would have reported it to the law enforcement when the incident happened 36 years ago.
“I never had any sexual or physical activity with Dr Ford,” Kavanaugh said, adding, “What I know is the truth. And the truth is, I have never sexually assaulted anyone in high school or otherwise”. “I am not questioning and have not questioned that perhaps Dr Ford, at some point in her life, was sexually assaulted by someone in some place. But what I know is, I have never sexually assaulted anyone in high school or at any time in my life,” he said. (PTI)
