DENVER – The FBI has contacted a Colorado woman who accused Brett Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct less than a day after President Donald Trump ordered a new background investigation of the Supreme Court nominee, the Washington Post reports.
The newspaper reported Saturday that FBI officials had reached out to Deborah Ramirez, a Boulder, Colorado woman who said that Kavanaugh exposed himself to her at a party when they were students at Yale University during the 1983-84 school year.
The Post reports it was not clear that agents had yet interviewed Ramirez.
In a statement sent to KMGH, John Clune, the attorney representing Ramirez in the case, confirmed the FBI had reached out to her, saying in part, "We can confirm the FBI has reached out to interview Ms. Ramirez and she has agreed to cooperate with their investigation."
Clune said they would not be providing further comment on the matter.
In an interview published last Sunday by The New Yorker, Ramirez alleged Kavanaugh thrust his penis in her face, causing her to touch it without her consent at a party where she had been drinking and become disoriented.
According to The New Yorker, Ramirez was initially reluctant to talk publicly about the alleged misconduct because she could not recall the entire incident. But she said she spent six days “assessing her memories and consulting with” Democratic former attorney Stan Garnett, whom she hired to serve as her counsel in the case, before deciding to go public.
After learning of the allegations made by Ramirez, Kavanaugh released a statement saying, “This alleged event from 35 years ago did not happen. The people who knew me then know that this did not happen, and have said so. This is a smear, plain and simple.”
Trump, under pressure from members of his own party, directed the FBI to renew an investigation into Kavanaugh’s background after Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Arizona, sided with Democrats who had asked the FBI to look into allegations that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted Dr. Christine Blasey Ford when the two were teenagers in Maryland.
"I've ordered the FBI to conduct a supplemental investigation to update Judge Kavanaugh's file. As the Senate has requested, this update must be limited in scope and completed in less than one week," Trump said in a statement.
The investigation will likely be similar in scope to what occurred in 1991 when Anita Hill made sexual harassment allegations against Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas, according to CNN.
CNN contributed to this report.
