A second person has come forward to accuse Supreme Court justice nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct, according to multiple reports.
Deborah Ramirez, from Boulder, accused Kavanaugh of pulling down his pants and exposing himself to her while the pair were classmates at Yale in the 1980s.
9Wants to Know has confirmed that Boulder attorney John Clune has been retained to represent Ramirez. Clune has handled some of the country's highest-profile sexual harassment cases, including representing the woman who alleged that Heisman Trophy winner Jameis Winston raped her while they were in college.
The New Yorker was the first to report on the new allegations, which come days before the Senate Judiciary Committee is set to interview the SCOTUS nominee about a previous sexual misconduct allegation.
Ramirez, 53, told the magazine she remembered a penis being in front of her face and that while she'd been drinking she knew that wasn't what she wanted. She told the magazine she remembered someone shouting the nominee's full name and saying he'd put his penis in her face.
"It was his full name," she told the New Yorker. "I don’t think it was just ‘Brett.’ And I remember hearing and being mortified that this was out there."
According to NBC News, Ramirez is married and living in Boulder as a volunteer and board member at a nonprofit group, Safehouse Progressive Alliance for Nonviolence, which advocates for victims of domestic violence. Boulder County confirms that she has worked there since 2013. The Boulder County Commissioners' Office released a statement on Monday about the allegations.
"We stand firmly behind our brave Boulder County employee who chose to speak publicly about a demeaning and demoralizing act of sexual misconduct she experienced as a young woman," the statement read in part. "We fully support an employee’s right to speak their truth and we stand with Deborah Ramirez in her courageous decision to speak up."
A note taped to the trashcan near the doorway to Ramirez's home Monday morning read, "I have no comment" and "thank you for respecting my privacy."
Community activist Lisa Calderón said she first met Debbie Ramirez at Boulder Safehouse (which is today Safehouse Progressive Alliance for Nonviolence), when Ramirez was a volunteer. Calderon says she hired Ramirez to work with domestic violence and sexual assault victims.
“I headed a legal advocacy program for victims. And that is when I met Debbie Ramirez. She volunteered for our organization to help domestic violence and sexual assault victims. And I was so impressed with her, I hired her as our victim-advocacy coordinator to work with victims, to go to court with victims, to sit with them after they had been traumatized. This is a woman with impeccable character. And that shouldn’t matter. It shouldn’t matter the education that you have, the class that you have. We should believe all victims. And this is something that Debbie worked for, dedicated her life to. She is also an incredibly private person, very thoughtful and diligent person. So I know that she would not come forward unless she had given this great thought. I also have to say that my heart breaks for her, because I know what she is going to face. “
Calderon spoke at a rally at Senator Cory Gardner's Office in Denver to oppose the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh.The gathering was planned last week, before Ramirez's claims were published.
Sen. Cory Gardner, who has previously stated his support for Kavanaugh, said he was first made aware of the allegations when the New Yorker story broke Sunday evening.
"Senator Gardner absolutely supports efforts by the Senate Judiciary Committee to gather more information and investigate these claims," said Casey Contres, Sen. Gardner's press secretary, in an email.
Contres also said investigators from the Senate Judiciary Committee, chaired by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), have contacted Ramirez's attorney.
9NEWS also reached out to Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet's office, who confirmed they helped Ramirez get in touch with Stan Garnett, the former Boulder District Attorney, so she could move forward taking the allegation public.
9Wants to Know has also confirmed that Stan Garnett will be "transitioning off the case" of Deborah Ramirez.
"Judiciary staff reached out to our office and asked for a connection to someone who might be helpful should Deborah Ramirez decide to come forward with an allegation related to that made by Dr. Ford," said a statement from spokesperson Laurie Cipriano. "We reached out to Stan Garnett who then met with Ramirez to work through how to analyze and present her allegations."
The 'Dr. Ford' in that statement refers to the first woman to accuse Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct - Dr. Christine Blasey Ford. She said he'd forced himself on top of her at a party in the '80s while the nominee was in high school. Kavanaugh has denied the incident. Ford said she will testify this week in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Bennet on Monday tweeted that both Ford and Ramirez are willing to provide their accounts to the FBI under oath.
"Anyone who is disputing their accounts should also be willing to do so under oath," Bennet tweeted. "The nomination process should not move forward until the FBI investigates these allegations."
Not long after the New Yorker's story was published, the White House released a pair of statements denying the claims, one from Kavanaugh himself.
“This alleged event from 35 years ago did not happen," Kavanaugh said. "The people who knew me then know that this did not happen, and have said so. This is a smear, plain and simple. I look forward to testifying on Thursday about the truth, and defending my good name — and the reputation for character and integrity I have spent a lifetime building — against these last-minute allegations.”
The White House's statement was similar in its wording.
“This 35-year-old, uncorroborated claim is the latest in a coordinated smear campaign by the Democrats designed to tear down a good man," said White House spokesperson Kerri Kupec. "This claim is denied by all who were said to be present and is wholly inconsistent with what many women and men who knew Judge Kavanaugh at the time in college say. The White House stands firmly behind Judge Kavanaugh.”
A source told NBC News that President Donald Trump was made aware of the allegations prior to the New Yorker article and had not changed in his support of Kavanaugh.
Most Republicans have stood by Kavanaugh during his nomination process even as the first sexual misconduct allegation surfaced. Democrats stand united in their opposition to his nomination.
