Embattled U.S. Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh says that while he sometimes drank too much in high school and did things that make him “cringe now,” he unequivocally denies the allegations that he sexually assaulted another teenager, Christine Blasey Ford, at a party in the 1980s.
“I was not perfect in those days, just as I am not perfect today. I drank beer with my friends, usually on weekends. Sometimes I had too many. In retrospect, I said and did things in high school that make me cringe now,” Kavanaugh will tell the Senate Judiciary committee, according to prepared remarks released Wednesday.
“But that’s not why we are here today. What I’ve been accused of is far more serious than juvenile misbehaviour.”
WATCH: U.S. President Trump had a lot to say in his 75-minute news conference held Wednesday. Jackson Proskow reports.
President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court pick makes a highly-anticipated committee appearance Thursday following testimony from Blasey, a research psychologist in California, who has accused Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her when she was 15 and he was 17 in suburban Maryland during a house party.
Ford has alleged that Kavanaugh pinned her to a bed and groped her while trying to remove her clothes. When she tried to scream, Ford alleges, he put his hand over her mouth. She was able to escape when another person entered the room.
Kavanaugh has denied the allegation as well as accusations from two other women, including Deborah Ramirez, who told the New Yorker magazine that he exposed himself to her at a party at Yale University when they were both first-year students.
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On Wednesday, Michael Avenatti — the lawyer representing the adult film actress Stormy Daniels — released a sworn statement from client, Julie Swetnick, who said that in the 1980s, she witnessed Judge Kavanaugh and a friend, Mark Judge, trying to get teenage girls “inebriated and disoriented so they could then be ‘gang raped’ in a side room or bedroom by a ‘train’ of numerous boys.”
“I have firm recollection of seeing boys lined up outside rooms at many of these parties waiting for their ‘turn’ with a girl inside the room,” he said. “These boys included Mark Judge and Brett Kavanaugh.”
READ MORE: 3rd Brett Kavanaugh accuser comes forward with sexual misconduct allegations
Kavanaugh will attempt to dismiss the accusations of all three women as “last-minute smears, pure and simple” meant to block his confirmation to the court.
“Such grotesque and obvious character assassination — if allowed to succeed — will dissuade competent and good people of all political persuasions from serving our country,” Kavanaugh plans to say. “The truth is that I have never sexually assaulted anyone — not in high school, not in college, not ever.”
Kavanaugh’s testimony was made public Wednesday along with calendar pages from the summer of 1982 that are filled with various appointments but show no specific parties as described by Ford.
Meanwhile, four affidavits from Ford’s husband and three friends state that she told them in recent years that Kavanaugh had assaulted her in high school.
President Trump said on Twitter that Avenatti was a “third rate lawyer who is good at making false accusations” and “is just looking for attention.”
In a statement released by the White House, Kavanaugh denied the latest allegations from Swetnick.
“This is ridiculous and from the ‘Twilight Zone,’” he said. “I don’t know who this is and this never happened.”
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On Monday, the judge appeared on Fox News with his wife and repeatedly denied that he had ever assaulted anyone, saying he had always “treated women with dignity and respect.”
— With a file from Reuters
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