© Benjamin Rasmussen for The New YorkerDeborah Ramirez, a Yale classmate of Brett Kavanaugh
Ramirez lawyer John Clune tweeted Tuesday that "We have been working hard to cooperate with the Senate Judiciary Committee...and they have refused to meet all scheduled appointments." He said Ramirez wants an FBI investigation, not a congressional investigation, and is willing to "swear to the FBI under penalty of perjury."
A top Judiciary Committee GOP aide told the Washington Examiner in response to the Clune claim, "The Ramirez legal team has declined to comply with the committee's established process and investigation and seem to prefer working through the media."
Clune is scheduled to appear on CNN tonight.
Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., who sits on the committee, said a lawyer for Ramirez told committee staff she would not speak to them about her allegation that Kavanaugh flashed his naked groin in her face during an alcohol-laden party their freshman year. Ramirez made the accusation in a blockbuster Sunday night New Yorker story.
"Our counsel repeatedly tried to reach him," Kennedy said of Ramirez's lawyer. "They finally did reach him, and he said we are not issuing a statement. He said if you want our statement, read the New Yorker."
Lawmakers, including Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, a key swing vote, have said they want to hear from Ramirez about her accusation. But talking to committee staff is the first step to testifying in the committee.
Democrats want the FBI to probe the matter, and Ramirez said she also supported an FBI investigation.
Republicans said they don't believe one is necessary and point to gaps in her story and lack of first-hand witnesses.
Comment: Comments on The New Yorker's grossly irresponsible story
There are no corroborating witnesses. None. Of the "dozens" of classmates The New Yorker contacted, all either failed "to respond to interview requests . . . declined to comment, or said they did not attend or remember the party. Indeed, we learn late in the piece that the authors could not establish that Kavanaugh was even there.
The Senate Judiciary Committee is expected to meet Thursday to hear from the first woman accusing Kavanaugh of sexual assault, Christine Blasey Ford. Republicans are expected to quickly move to confirm Kavanaugh in the days following the hearing.
The same parties are orchestrating this. The good news is they are so indiscriminate, so reckless. That they deploy to wreck the most sensitive American political matters. That they are well on the provoking a backlash. Let that wind expose them and sweep them away with as much pain as can be inflicted.