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WASHINGTON – A Yale classmate of Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh accused him of a "flagrant false description" of his college drinking on Sunday, saying he often saw Judge Kavanaugh "stunned by consumerism." alcohol ".
Classmate Chad Ludington, who said he often attended Judge Kavanaugh as a student, said in a statement that the judge had been lying in testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee when he had denied any possibility of drinking.
Mr. Ludington stated that Judge Kavanaugh had downplayed "the degree and frequency" of his drinking and that the judge had often become "belligerent and aggressive" while intoxicated. Other old comrades have made similar statements.
"It's the truth that's at stake, and I believe that the ability to tell the truth, even when it's not self-reflective, is a paramount quality we're looking for among the most powerful judges in our country. "said Mr. Ludington. that he had planned to "carry my information to the FBI"
Professor Ludington, a professor at North Carolina State University who appears to have made small political contributions to Democratic candidates, told The New York Times on Sunday that he had been briefed by the Washington FBI office. Head to the Raleigh office in North Carolina on Monday morning. He said that he had the intention of doing so, so that he could "tell all the details of my story".
It is illegal to lie in Congress. But we did not know if the F.B.I. add Mr. Ludington's charges to the newly reopened substantive investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct against Judge Kavanaugh, whose scope and time was limited by White House and Senate Republicans.
The White House did not comment immediately on Mr. Ludington's accusations.
Even before the statement by Ludington, Democrats in Washington reacted angrily Sunday at the narrow scope of the new movement F.B.I. The background investigation became clear, warning that it was threatening to become a sham.
Senator Mazie K. Hirono, a Hawaiian Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, said on ABC, "This week," that any investigation limiting the responsibilities of the FB.I. can query and what tracks agents can follow would be a "joke".
Senator Amy Klobuchar, a Democrat from Minnesota who is also on the committee, described what she called micromanagement from the White House: "You can not interview that person, you can not watch this person. period. people on one side of the street when they were growing up.
"I mean, come on," she says on CNN's "State of the Union."
The White House agreed Friday to order the F.B.I. conduct a one – week additional background check with Judge Kavanaugh after a small number of Republicans joined the Democrats to request an investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct.
White House officials asked F.B.I. to interview four witnesses, a typical request in a background check. There was no evidence that the White House had banned any investigative proceedings and President Trump stated that he wanted the officers "to question those whom they deem appropriate, at their discretion." ".
In a tweet on Sunday, Trump accused Democrats of playing politics and said they would never be satisfied with an investigation.
"Sensational!" The mere fact of hearing Democrats, who think only of Obstruct and Delay, is beginning to say that the "time" and "reach" of the FBI with respect to Justice Kavanaugh and witnesses are not enough, he wrote, "Hello! For them, it will never be enough.
The Democrats drew up the initial list of those to question, believing that they were not able to fully examine the allegations. The four witnesses are Mark Judge and P.J. Smyth, friends of Justice Kavanaugh High School. Leland Keyser, a high school friend of one of Judge Kavanaugh's accusers, Christine Blasey Ford; and Deborah Ramirez, another judge's accuser.
A lawyer for Dr. Blasey, who rivaled the nation on Thursday before the judicial committee, said on Sunday that she had not been contacted by police. FBI
"We have not heard from F.B.I. despite repeated efforts to talk with them, "attorney Debra S. Katz said during a brief telephone conversation Sunday morning.
Dr. Blasey testified last week that she was willing to cooperate with the authorities. Judge Kavanaugh vigorously denied the accusations of Mr. Blasey and other accusers.
The investigation launched last week aims to resolve the heated national debate about Judge Kavanaugh's ability to sit on the Supreme Court. But his abbreviated nature may disappoint his detractors, who insisted on a thorough examination of his drinking and sexuality habits as a high school and college student. Even Democratic senators who had acknowledged that background checks would be limited were disappointed on Sunday.
The officials said F.B.I. The officers were not doing the kind of effort that journalists have made in recent weeks to talk to anyone who might have information about the sexual behavior or drinking habits of Judge Kavanaugh as a young man.
Instead, they said that the investigation was designed to examine the allegations of Dr. Blasey, a professor at the University of California, and the statement of Madam Ramirez, a classmate of Judge Kavanaugh at Yale, that he exposed himself to her.
The interrogation process for the four witnesses could be completed as early as Monday. While agents are free to follow up when they find evidence of criminal activity, the background check rules require that they ask the White House if they wish to expand the scope of their investigation or interview other witnesses.
Judge Kavanaugh's former classmates, who publicly disputed his testimony about his drink and party, while a high school student from Georgetown Pre-school, a boys' Catholic school in suburban Maryland, and later Yale, left the list.
Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the White House press officer, denied Sunday that the White House was playing an inappropriate role in the process, saying that Donald F. McGahn II, the White House lawyer, had "allowed the Senate to dictate" the investigation, and that Mr. Trump would stay out of that.
Those accustomed to the investigation said that Republican senators had listed four potential witnesses of the F.B.I. to interview and shared with the White House.
"The Senate dictates the conditions," Sanders told Fox News Sunday. "They submitted the application and we opened it. And as you've heard from the president, do what you need to do, the FBI, that's what they do and we stand aside and let them do exactly that. "
In one tweet late saturday nightMr. Trump insisted that he did not limit the F.B.I. could interview. Although he did not dispute the small number of initial interviews, he seemed to suggest that the White House would not stop the F.B.I. to pursue tracks on both allegations of misconduct.
Senator Susan Collins, a moderate Republican from Maine, whose vote could determine the fate of Judge Kavanaugh, said Sunday: "I am confident that the F.B.I. will follow up on any leads resulting from the interviews. "
But while Democrats were trying to sound the alarm that the White House might restrict the FBI's work, a key party member said that if the Democrats took control of the House in November and Justice Kavanaugh not other choice than to investigate more in-depth complaints against him.
"If he sits on the Supreme Court and the Senate has not investigated, the House will have to do it," said New York MLA Jerrold Nadler, the Democratic's highest-level member of the House Judiciary Committee. . We would have to investigate all credible allegations, certainly perjury and other things that we have not thought about before. "
The Judiciary Committee is the body where investigations into the impeachment of judges and other public servants begin, and with Democratic favorites to take the House back in November, Mr. Nadler may well be the panel chair in January.
"We will not be able to have justice in the Supreme Court over the coming decades to decide the issues of freedom, life and death and all kinds of things for the entire American people accused of sexual assault. has been credibly accused of various other things – bad things, including perjury, "Nadler said.
While acrimony between Republicans and Democrats only seemed to grow at Capitol Hill, a Republican Senator, Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, said his party should open its own investigation.
Graham, whose strong defense of Judge Kavanaugh turned heads last week, dismissed the need to question witnesses about the use of alcohol by young judge Kavanaugh. Instead, he called for an inquiry into the interactions of Democratic Senators with Dr. Blasey, accusing lawmakers on the other side of betraying his trust by recommending him to hire a lawyer, revealing the existence of a letter written and revealing the existence of an agent. another anonymous charge unrelated to Judge Kavanaugh.
"I think you're trying to portray him as a drunken, clumsy gangster gangster who, during high school and college, was Bill Cosby," Graham said during the week. "Six F.B.I background checks over the years would have discovered this."
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