An attorney for Deborah Ramirez, a Boulder woman who accused Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct while they attended Yale more than three decades ago, says the Federal Bureau of Investigation did not allow its agents to fully investigate her claims.
William Pittard, a Washington D.C.-based lawyer representing Ramirez, wrote a scathing three-page letter to FBI director Chris Ray Thursday. In it, Pittard write that agents interviewed Ramirez last Sunday in Boulder. She answered a “host of detailed questions,” them provided agents with a list of more than 20 additional witnesses that could have corroborated her claims.
But the FBI never permitted its agents to contact those witnesses, Pittard wrote.
“We are deeply disappointed by this failure,” he wrote. “We can only concluded that the FBI—or those controlling its investigation—did not want to learn the truth behind Ms. Ramirez’s allegations.”
Ramirez alleges that Kavanaugh exposed himself to her at a party at Yale in the 1980s. Kavanaugh denies the allegation.
Pittard’s letter also references a New Yorker article published Wednesday that quotes Yale classmates who were never contacted by the FBI.
“I can corroborate Debbie’s account,” Kenneth G. Appold told the New Yorker in an interview. “I believe her, because it matches the same story I heard thirty-five years ago, although the two of us have never talked.”
Pittard’s letter also includes an affidavit from Richard Oh, another Yale classmate who was not contacted by the FBI.
The FBI’s interview with Ramirez is part of a report on Kavanaugh that has not been publicly published; Senators and some aides were allowed to review it in private Thursday morning. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., said, "The most notable part of this report is what's not in it."
But Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., is pushing for a procedural vote on Friday morning, as NPR reports:
If that vote passes and the Senate agrees to close the discussion about Kavanaugh, it starts a 30-hour clock that would end with another vote on whether he should take the open seat on the Supreme Court.
That final vote is expected to take place sometime over the weekend. Both votes need a simple majority to pass. The chamber is sharply divided so Republicans need as much support as they can get, but it isn't yet clear how many senators will vote for Kavanaugh.
