Brett Kavanaugh: A timeline of allegations against the Supreme Court nominee

Brett Kavanaugh: A timeline of allegations against the Supreme Court nominee

Erin Kelly and Jessica Estepa, USA TODAY Published 3:05 p.m. ET Sept. 24, 2018 | Updated 10:49 a.m. ET Sept. 28, 2018

Here's how the events unfolded in recent months:

July 9

President Donald Trump announces his nomination of Kavanaugh to the high court to replace retiring Justice Anthony Kennedy.

At a White House ceremony revealing his choice, Trump describes Kavanaugh as a man of "impeccable credentials" and a "true thought-leader among his peers."

July 30

Christine Blasey Ford, a psychology professor in California, quietly sends a letter to Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee. In the letter, she alleges that Kavanaugh physically and sexually assaulted her while they were in high school. Feinstein does not release the letter publicly, at Ford's request.

Aug. 10

Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, announces that confirmation hearings for Kavanaugh will begin Sept. 4. Democrats complain that Republicans are trying to rush Kavanaugh's confirmation through the Senate without allowing them to see all the documents from Kavanaugh's tenure as an attorney in the administration of President George W. Bush.

Sept. 4-7

Kavanaugh testifies for three days at confirmation hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee. On the fourth day, legal experts and other witnesses testify about his nomination. The allegations from Ford are never raised.

Sept. 12 

Feinstein sends Ford's letter to the FBI after several days of rumors about its existence leaking out from Democratic senators. The bureau puts the letter in Kavanaugh's background check file but does not launch a criminal investigation, in part because the statute of limitations on the alleged sexual assault expired years earlier.

Sept. 14

Ford's allegations against Kavanaugh first publicly surface in a story by The New Yorker magazine. The bare bones story does not include Ford's name.

"I categorically and unequivocally deny this allegation. I did not do this back in high school or at any time," Kavanaugh says in a statement.

The White House says there are no plans to pull Kavanaugh's nomination.

Sept. 16

The Washington Post publishes an interview with Ford, who allows her name to be released publicly for the first time. She alleges in the story that a drunken Kavanaugh pinned her down on a bed at a high school house party and tried to remove her clothes while holding his hand over her mouth to stop her from screaming. Ford says she feared Kavanaugh might inadvertently kill her. Kavanaugh again denies that the incident ever took place.

Sept. 17

Grassley scraps the confirmation vote on Kavanaugh that the committee was scheduled to hold Sept. 21 and says the panel will hold a hearing Sept. 24 to hear from both Ford and Kavanaugh about the sexual assault allegations.

Sept. 17-22

Attorneys for the Judiciary Committee negotiate with Ford's attorneys after Ford says she will not be ready to testify on the 24th. Deadlines for a deal are repeatedly set and moved during the tense talks.

Sept. 23

Ford agrees to testify publicly at a committee hearing Sept. 27. Grassley says Kavanaugh will testify after Ford.

Later that day, The New Yorker releases a report that a second woman has come forward with sexual assault allegations against Kavanaugh. Deborah Ramirez, a woman who attended Yale University with Kavanaugh, accuses Kavanaugh of exposing himself at a dorm party and "thrusting his penis" in her face, according to the story. The alleged incident occurred during the 1983-84 academic year, the story says.

Separately, Attorney Michael Avenatti, who represents porn star Stormy Daniels in her hush-money case against Trump, tweets that he represents a third woman with "information" on Kavanaugh.

Sept. 24

Kavanaugh sends a letter to Grassley and Feinstein declaring that he "will not be intimidated into withdrawing from this process."

"The coordinated effort to destroy my good name will not drive me out," he writes. "The vile threats of violence against my family will not drive me out. The last-minute character assassination will not succeed."

Trump blasts the allegations against Kavanaugh as "totally political" and says, "I am with him all the way."

Sept. 25

A lawyer for Deborah Ramirez said he is pushing for an FBI investigation of his client’s claims that Kavanaugh assaulted her.

The White House said it would “certainly be open” to hearing testimony from Ramirez. Later in the day, President Trump accused Democrats of playing a “con game” with the accusations, saying Ramirez “has nothing.”

“She admits she was drunk,” Trump said.

Sept. 26

A third woman came forward to accuse Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct. In a sworn statement, Julie Swetnick said she witnessed multiple instances of Kavanaugh drinking to excess and engaging in “abusive behavior” toward teenage girls at parties.

"I have a firm recollection of seeing boys lined up outside rooms at many of these parties waiting for their 'turn' with a girl inside the room. These boys included Mark Judge and Brett Kavanaugh," she alleged in the statement.

Kavanaugh denied the allegations, calling them something from the “Twilight Zone.” Senate leadership staff had reportedly questioned Kavanaugh about two additional sexual misconduct allegations, though one was recanted almost immediately. The other, submitted as an anonymous letter, said Kavanaugh assaulted a woman while drunk in 1998.

Sept. 27

Kavanaugh and Ford testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Ford, the first woman to accuse Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct, alleges that the nominee attempted to assault her at the house party in the 1980s.

The hearings were fraught with emotion, with both Ford and Kavanaugh holding back tears as they answered questions from the committee and outside prosecutor Rachel Mitchell. When asked how certain she was that Kavanaugh was the man who had pinned her to a bed and attempted to take off her clothes, Ford said “100 percent.”

Kavanaugh was by turns angry and tearful during his testimony, going off script in his opening statement to accuse Democrats of “grotesque” character assassination. He “categorically and unequivocally” denied Ford’s allegation, as well as the others made against him.

Sept. 28

The Senate Judiciary Committee moved ahead with a 9:30 a.m. hearing on Kavanaugh then scheduled a 1:30 p.m. vote at which they voted 11-10, along part lines, to move it to the full Senate, with the proviso, insisted upon by Arizona senator Jeff Flake to allow one week for the FBI to investigate the backgrounds of the main principles.