Kavanaugh accuser Ramirez speaks with FBI: reports

Deborah Ramirez, the second woman to publicly accuse Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct, has spoken with the FBI, according to multiple reports.

Ramirez reportedly spoke with FBI agents on Sunday as part of the bureau’s investigation into Kavanaugh, which was ordered by President Trump on Friday.

In a New Yorker article published last week, Ramirez accused Kavanaugh of exposing himself to her at a dorm party at Yale University in the 1980s. 

Her allegations followed those made by Christine Blasey Ford, who accused Kavanaugh of groping her and trying to take off her clothes without her consent during a high school party in 1982. 

Kavanaugh has denied the allegations.

According to CNN, Ramirez gave the FBI the names of witnesses that could corroborate her story. 

Kavanaugh appeared on track to be confirmed as Trump’s second Supreme Court nominee until Ford’s allegations were made public last week in an article published by the Washington Post.

Both Ford and Kavanaugh testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday, and Kavanaugh appeared set to be approved by the panel on Friday. But in a stunning last-minute move, Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) said he would only vote to confirm Kavanaugh if the FBI conducted a week-long investigation into the allegations.

Many Democrats have criticized what they deem to be an arbitrary time limit to the investigation. Trump on Saturday denied an NBC report that he was imposing limits on the investigation, saying he wanted the FBI “to interview whoever they deem appropriate.”

The New York Times on Sunday reported that the FBI is investigating the allegations made by Ford, Ramirez and a third accuser, Julie Swetnick, who has said Kavanaugh was present at high school parties where women were drugged and mistreated. Swetnick’s lawyer is Michael Avenatti, who also represents adult film star Stormy Daniels. 

According to the Times, the FBI is planning to interview three other witnesses in addition to Ramirez: Mark Judge, a high school classmate of Kavanaugh’s who Ford says was in the room when she was groped; and two other classmates who had also attended the party at the center of Ford’s allegations.