A New York Times story that broke over the weekend immediately had the top 2020 Democratic presidential contenders clamoring for the head of Justice Brett Kavanaugh.
The story, which was first published in the electronic version of the Times, alleges another victim has come forward accusing Judge Kavanaugh of a sexual assault which occurred decades ago. Only the Times left out one very important detail – the victim claims she has “no recollection” of the incident!
As the original story broke, California Sen. Kamala Harris lead other 2020 Democratic candidates in saying Justice Kavanaugh must be impeached after the new allegations of sexual misconduct were leveled against him on Saturday.
“Brett Kavanaugh lied to the U.S. Senate and most importantly to the American people. He was put on the Court through a sham process and his place on the Court is an insult to the pursuit of truth and justice,” the Democratic presidential candidate tweeted Sunday.
Other Democratic presidential candidates have either expressed concern about the allegation or have outright called for Kavanaugh’s impeachment because of it.
However, late Sunday night the Times was forced to amend its “bombshell” story, noting in the updated piece that friends of the alleged victim said she did not recall the purported sexual assault. In the revised version, the Times also stated for the first time that the alleged victim refused to be interviewed by the paper.
President Trump called out The New York Times on Monday after the newspaper was forced to make the major revision to the article, saying that his Supreme Court pick is the one being “assaulted” by these late-breaking accounts.
“The one who is actually being assaulted is Justice Kavanaugh – Assaulted by lies and Fake News!” Trump said in a tweet, after quoting a “Fox & Friends” discussion of the Times update. “This is all about the LameStream Media working with their partner, the Dems.”
Left Out One Critical Detail
According to Fox News, the original Times piece by Robin Pogrebin and Kate Kelly, adapted from their forthcoming book, asserted that a Kavanaugh classmate, nonprofit CEO Max Stier, “saw Mr. Kavanaugh with his pants down at a different drunken dorm party, where friends pushed his penis into the hand of a female student.” Stier is also connected to the Clintons.
According to the Times, Stier “notified senators and the FBI about this account” last year during the Kavanaugh hearings, “but the FBI did not investigate and Mr. Stier has declined to discuss it publicly.”
The Times’ revision acknowledged the original article left out a key detail as follows: “Editors’ Note: An earlier version of this article, which was adapted from a forthcoming book, did not include one element of the book’s account regarding an assertion by a Yale classmate that friends of Brett Kavanaugh pushed his penis into the hand of a female student at a drunken dorm party. The book reports that the female student declined to be interviewed and friends say that she does not recall the incident. That information has been added to the article.”
The update on the Times’ report came only after The Federalist’s Mollie Hemingway, who reviewed an advance copy of the book, first flagged the article’s omission on Twitter — prompting other commentators to press the issue.
The president went on to call those behind the story “HORRIBLE PEOPLE,” and claimed they were trying to influence Kavanaugh’s judicial opinions and should be sued.
“DO YOU BELIEVE WHAT THESE HORRIBLE PEOPLE WILL DO OR SAY,” Trump said. “They are looking to destroy, and influence his opinions – but played the game badly. They should be sued!”