Journalists Ronan Farrow and Jane Mayer of The New Yorker introduced Deborah Ramirez, a former Yale University classmate of Judge Brett Kavanaugh, late Sunday night as the second woman accusing the Supreme Court nominee of sexual misconduct more than 30 years ago.
Farrow and Mayer — to their credit — also included at eight separate points in their sensational story that there are concrete grounds to doubt Ramirez’s memory.
The following quotes are all drawn directly from their piece.
1.) “The New Yorker has not confirmed with other eyewitnesses that Kavanaugh was present at the party.”
2.) “Her memories contained gaps because she had been drinking at the time of the alleged incident.”
3.) “After six days of carefully assessing her memories and consulting with her attorney, Ramirez said that she felt confident enough of her recollections.”
4.) Ramirez said she “quickly became inebriated” at the 1983 party.
5.) Ramirez admitted that during the party “she was on the floor, foggy and slurring her words.”
6.) “Ramirez acknowledged that there are significant gaps in her memories of the evening.”
7.) “One of the male classmates who Ramirez said egged on Kavanaugh denied any memory of the party. ‘I don’t think Brett would flash himself to Debbie, or anyone, for that matter,’ he said. Asked why he thought Ramirez was making the allegation, he responded, ‘I have no idea.’ The other male classmate who Ramirez said was involved in the incident commented, ‘I have zero recollection.’”
8.) “Three other classmates, Dino Ewing, Louisa Garry, and Dan Murphy, disputed Ramirez’s account of events: ‘We were the people closest to Brett Kavanaugh during his first year at Yale. He was a roommate to some of us, and we spent a great deal of time with him, including in the dorm where this incident allegedly took place. Some of us were also friends with Debbie Ramirez during and after her time at Yale. We can say with confidence that if the incident Debbie alleges ever occurred, we would have seen or heard about it — and we did not.'”
They added more on this point: “‘The behavior she describes would be completely out of character for Brett. In addition, some of us knew Debbie long after Yale, and she never described this incident until Brett’s Supreme Court nomination was pending.'”
The Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to meet on Thursday to hear testimony from Christine Blasey Ford, the first woman to allege sexual misconduct by Kavanaugh.
What the committee will do in view of the latest allegations is not known at this writing.
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