NBC News reports that Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh was apparently in personal contact with potential witnesses he believed would cast doubt on the allegations that he exposed himself to a female student during a drunken Yale party.
The texts between Berchem and Karen Yarasavage, both friends of Kavanaugh, suggest that the nominee was personally talking with former classmates about Ramirez’s story in advance of the New Yorker article that made her allegation public. In one message, Yarasavage said Kavanaugh asked her to go on the record in his defense. Two other messages show communication between Kavanaugh's team and former classmates in advance of the story.Classmate Kerry Berchem has provided the messages to the FBI but has apparently not yet received acknowledgement from the bureau that they will be investigated.
Further, the texts show Kavanaugh may need to be questioned about how far back he anticipated Ramirez would air allegations against him. Berchem says, in her memo, that Kavanaugh “and/or” his friends “may have initiated an anticipatory narrative” as early as July to “conceal or discredit” Ramirez.It would seem to be a very odd move for a Supreme Court nominee to be personally involved in speaking to witnesses in a preemptive attempt to discredit testimony against him, but we are very far past "odd" already.
Most pointedly, Kavanaugh testified under oath that the first time he heard of Ramirez' allegation was from the Sept. 23rd New Yorker article. These messages indicate that he in fact personally knew of her allegations in advance of that article–possibly many months in advance–rendering his Senate testimony untrue.
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