Supreme Court Nominee Kavanaugh: 'I've Never Sexually Assaulted Anyone'
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WASHINGTON (AP) - Brett Kavanaugh says he won't let "false accusations" drive him from his quest to win Senate confirmation to the Supreme Court. That's part of an aggressive drive by President Donald Trump and top Republicans to rally the public and GOP senators behind Kavanaugh's nomination.
Trump and Republican leaders are accusing Democrats of a smear campaign by using accusations by two women of sexual misconduct by Kavanaugh in the 1980s to try scuttling his Senate confirmation.
There were no immediate indications that the emergence of a second accuser had fatally wounded Kavanaugh's prospects. But Republicans tried projecting unflinching support for Kavanaugh that included the nominee taking the unusual step of defending himself in a television interview.
Kavanaugh said on Fox News Channel, "I've never sexually assaulted anyone."
Meanwhile, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders says "we would be open" to Deborah Ramirez, a second woman accusing Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct, testify before the Senate Judiciary panel this week.
Sanders says that "process could take place on Thursday," when Kavanaugh and Christine Blasey Ford, who has separately accused him of assaulting her in high school, are scheduled to testify.
She says President Donald Trump "has said a number of times these individuals should be heard." At the same time, she noted that Kavanaugh has been "unequivocal in his denial" of sexual assault allegations. She adds, "This is a country where you're innocent until proven guilty except when you're a conservative Republican."
Republicans have accused Democrats of a smear campaign by using the women's accusations of misconduct by Kavanaugh in high school and college to try to defeat his nomination.
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