Second woman accuses Brett Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct

White House spokesperson Kerri Kupec dismissed Ramirez’s allegation as “the latest in a coordinated smear campaign by the Democrats created to tear down a good man”.

Judge Kavanaugh has already released a statement denying the allegation.

Ramirez is now calling for an FBI investigation into Kavanaugh, saying “I would think an F.B.I. investigation would be warranted”. The alleged incident apparently transpired in the 1983-1984 school year at a party, at which Kavanaugh and Ramirez were reportedly playing a drinking game, when Kavanaugh allegedly exposed himself to her. Avenatti told The Associated Press that he will disclose his client’s identity in the coming days and that she is prepared to testify before the committee, as well as provide names of corroborating witnesses.

While Kavanaugh is eager to testify and clear his name, an associate told the Post he is becoming “incredibly frustrated” by continued stories about his family. She also acknowledged reluctance “to characterize Kavanaugh’s role in the alleged incident with certainty”.

Further, those classmates said that the allegations in the story would be completely out of character for Kavanaugh. “If established, they’re clearly disqualifying”.

Democratic Senator Dick Durbin of IL, also a Judiciary Committee member, questioned why Ford would have come forward if the allegation wasn’t true.

The potentially explosive hearing, set against a backdrop of the #MeToo movement fighting sexual harassment and assault, comes just weeks before November 6 congressional elections in which Democrats are trying to take control of Congress from Trump’s fellow Republicans.

Ford’s lawyers and the Republican leadership of the Judiciary Committee reached a tentative agreement Saturday evening for her and Kavanaugh to testify Thursday about her allegation, multiple sources familiar with the talks told ABC News.

But before long, Christine Blasey Ford knew better.

The magazine said it had not found eyewitnesses to confirm that Mr Kavanaugh was at the party, though one former classmate remembered hearing about the incident from another, and independently corroborated numerous details offered by Ms Ramirez.

Keyser’s denial, as a female classmate and Ford’s last alleged witness, is the most consequential development that has occurred since Ford publicly stepped forward last Sunday and detailed her allegations to the Washington Post.

“They’re anxious about security at the hearing”, the IL senator said.

But details are still being worked out and, given the events of the past week, there is no guarantee Ford will actually take the oath and submit to what are certain to be intensely probing questions about her credibility.

Inside the Senate, only six of the 51 Republicans are women – none of them on the Senate Judiciary Committee.

“Various senators have been dismissive of her (Ford’s) account and should have to shoulder their responsibility to ask her questions”, Ford’s lawyers say. They also compared the current controversy to the sexual harassment allegations against Clarence Thomas by Anita Hill in 1991. Kavanaugh is the most unpopular Supreme Court nominee since 2005, according to NBC News polling – more unpopular than Harriet Miers, who was nominated by President George W. Bush but ultimately withdrew under criticism over her qualifications.

The New Yorker identifies the woman as 53-year-old Deborah Ramirez. She says he put his hand over her mouth when she tried to scream.

“You couldn’t get a warrant because the three people named by Dr. Ford as having been at the party outside of Kavanaugh all say they don’t know what she’s talking about”, he said.

Kavanaugh has denied sexually abusing anyone at any time in his life.