Brookline Woman, Friend Of Kavanaugh Accuser Speaks Out
BROOKINE (CBS) – The friend of a woman who accused now Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct says she feels like her efforts were "all for nothing."
Jennifer Klaus was friends with Deborah Ramirez at Yale, and lived with her after college. Klaus lives in Brookline now. She says when she heard the announcement that Brett Kavanaugh was President Trump's Supreme Court nominee back in July, she laughed out loud, because of the man she knew at school – one she and friends used to refer to as "Brett Tool."
Klaus first came out publicly in the bombshell New Yorker article that revealed disturbing allegations of sexual misconduct by Brett Kavanaugh while at Yale. Ramirez claims a young Brett Kavanaugh exposed himself to her at a party in college – an event that Jen Klaus didn't witness personally, but believes happened. "Hands down, definitely believe her," she told WBZ-TV. "If she said it happened, I'm behind her 100 percent."
While Klaus supports and believes her friend "Debbie," she says she never had a questionable interaction with Kavanaugh. "He was a sloppy drunk," she said. "For sure. Holding up the walls. Asleep on his feet. But he was never belligerent to me or did anything questionable to me."
Two weeks after Ramirez's claims were published in the New Yorker, and days after she was interviewed by the FBI, Judge Kavanaugh was confirmed to the Supreme Court in a 50-48 Senate vote. "I don't think this was a thorough investigation," Klaus said. "I think she was pushed to the side. If anything, it's infuriated me more since yesterday. I'm sure this has been devastating for her. And what did she get out of any of this? She just got brushed aside."
Klaus was not interviewed by the FBI, but did receive a personal call from a staff member of the Judiciary Committee. She says the staff member asked her if her friend Debbie drank to excess, or if there were other boys at school known to drop their pants. "It made me think, is it to suggest that Debbie had a case of mistaken identity?" she said. "I couldn't exactly comment on other people dropping their trousers, particularly."
In an emailed statement to WBZ-TV, a spokesperson for Senator Grassley said the phone interview was "standard protocol."
"No suggestion of mistaken identity was made," the spokesperson said. "The committee has received numerous tips and asked Ms. Klaus for information she could provide one way or the other."
Now that Justice Kavanaugh is confirmed, Klaus says she's disappointed, and wishes more of her Yale classmates had come out to corroborate Deborah Ramirez's story.
