GOP stands by Kavanaugh, rips NY Times

AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite

In this Nov. 30, 2018, file photo Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh sits with fellow Supreme Court justices for a group portrait at the Supreme Court Building in Washington.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The chairman of the Senate committee that hosted Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearings is ripping The New York Times for publishing “unsubstantiated” allegations.

Iowa Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley on Monday said the paper’s publication of a new, uninvestigated allegation of sexual misconduct against Kavanaugh is a “shameful” and “irresponsible” move that undermines the paper’s credibility.

The latest claim mirrors one offered during Kavanaugh’s confirmation process by Deborah Ramirez, a Yale classmate who claimed Kavanaugh exposed himself to her during a drunken party. The Times story said another, unidentified woman was supposedly involved but declined to be interviewed, and her friends say she doesn’t recall the episode.

Grassley says his team never received an allegation like the one referenced by the Times.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is standing by Brett Kavanaugh as some Democrats seize on a new, uninvestigated allegation of sexual impropriety against the Supreme Court justice.

The Kentucky Republican said Monday that the allegation of sexual misconduct by Kavanaugh while at Yale “probably felt a little like Groundhog Day” after The New York Times reported on it over the weekend. McConnell called it “yet another poorly sourced, thinly reported unsubstantiated allegation.”

The latest claim mirrors one offered during Kavanaugh’s confirmation process by Deborah Ramirez, a Yale classmate who claimed Kavanaugh exposed himself to her during a drunken party. The Times story said the other woman supposedly involved declined to be interviewed and her friends say she doesn’t recall the episode.

Several Democratic presidential candidates have called for Kavanaugh’s impeachment.