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Dem Candidates: Impeach Kavanaugh 09/16 06:14
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Several Democratic presidential candidates on Sunday
lined up to call for the impeachment of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh
in the face of a new, uninvestigated, allegation of sexual impropriety when he
was in college.
Kavanaugh was confirmed last October after emotional hearings in the Senate
over a sexual assault allegation from his high school years. The New York Times
now reports that Kavanaugh faced a separate allegation from his time at Yale
University and that the FBI did not investigate the claim. The latest claim
mirrors one offered during his confirmation process by Deborah Ramirez, a Yale
classmate who claimed Kavanaugh exposed himself to her during a drunken party.
When he testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee last year, Kavanaugh
denied all allegations of impropriety .
Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., said after the new report that "Brett
Kavanaugh lied to the U.S. Senate and most importantly to the American people."
She tweeted: "He must be impeached."
A 2020 rival, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, tweeted that
"Confirmation is not exoneration, and these newest revelations are disturbing.
Like the man who appointed him, Kavanaugh should be impeached."
Former Texas Rep. Beto O'Rourke asserted in a tweeted, "We know he lied
under oath. He should be impeached." He accused the GOP-run Senate of forcing
the FBI "to rush its investigation to save his nomination."
Their comments followed similar ones from Julian Castro, a former U.S.
housing secretary, on Saturday night. "It's more clear than ever that Brett
Kavanaugh lied under oath," he tweeted. "He should be impeached and Congress
should review the failure of the Department of Justice to properly investigate
the matter."
Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont didn't refer to impeachment by name in a
tweet Sunday, but said he would "support any appropriate constitutional
mechanism" to hold Kavanaugh "accountable."
Later Sunday, Sen. Cory Booker tweeted: "This new allegation and additional
corroborating evidence adds to a long list of reasons why Brett Kavanaugh
should not be a Supreme Court justice. I stand with survivors and countless
other Americans in calling for impeachment proceedings to begin."
Democrats control the House, which holds the power of impeachment. If the
House took that route, a trial would take place in the Senate, where
Republicans now have a majority, making it unlikely that Kavanaugh would be
removed from office.
Trump, who fiercely defended Kavanaugh during his contentious confirmation
process, dismissed the latest allegation as "lies."
In a tweet Sunday, Trump said Kavanaugh "should start suing people for
libel, or the Justice Department should come to his rescue." It wasn't
immediately clear how the Justice Department could come to the justice's
defense.
Trump added that they were "False Accusations without recrimination," and
claimed his accusers were seeking to influence Kavanaugh's opinions on the
bench.
(KR)
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